What in the world did I get myself into?
by Mara Gin
Summary: Some people say others are born with evil in their fate, but could they be changed? Even saved? I know vey well how this story ends but what If I could change everything, maybe even save them? Or will they all break me first? What in the world did I get myself into?
1. Prologue

Prolong: Waking up

_'What in the world did I get myself into?'_

That was the one and only thought that I could process in my fog shrouded brain.

You know...It's quite amazing how acutely the mind can make a rational thought, as soon as the veil of blessed unconsciousness is lifted before going straight to the more known first minute reactions that are triggered by your body's hyperactive senses.

**Pain**

which triggers

**Fear**

this triggers

**Adrenalin**

Which makes you snap out of your mindless limbo and take in everything around you in a split second. This keen but split second observation awakens then scrambles your thoughts into a jumbled mess of pictures and phantom memories you cannot doubt nor bring yourself to believe. Which then brings on a whole new onslaught of senses and emotions in the form of a roaring river that you could never hope to get your mental bearings in.

**Searing heat**

_Anger_

**Painful pulsing**

_Protectiveness_

**Unbearable tightness**

_Numbing shock_

**Blood**

[There's so much so much blood...] something whispers.

Then blank whiteness that stops everything in something less than a second and leaves everything suspended as if floating in air. Slowly you're your mind begins to function again. You are aware of everything outside of your mind and of nothing for your mind is an empty void of echoing nothingness at this point.

Then your mind's rationality jump starts and your mind dismisses the whole ordeal as another long broken phantom memory that you could shove somewhere in the far corners of your mind. Faint but still there lingering as all the others do. You just could not connect the pieces.

Your now fully rational mind is now sorting your emotions, thoughts, and senses, giving only a few brief glimpses of things you've seen but cannot accept in those few confusing seconds as the faint adrenalin rush you had just finished has begun to fade, making your mind slow and sluggish, though it does little to help your plight now as everything has all but taken its toll.

[Rationality cannot save you now] the whispering voice cooed.

[The damage has been done]

[And now you're waking up.]

Dark and terrifying laughter follows after the waning whispers in the endless void, like a dark beast chasing after a thinning wisp of smoke in the gloom of a perpetual twilight.

**[Its Time...]**


	2. Chapter 1

_Hi everybody, so sorry I haven't been updating yet but now I promise you the chapters are going to come a lot quicker now. Anyways please, please review and I'm glad for the reviews that people have shared. Anyway this is like short filler so more to come. Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters all rights belong to **M**_**_asashi Kishimoto_**_._

* * *

Chapter One: Waking up

'Ugh', I moaned out loud.

Great, splitting headache and heavy limbs; not the best way to wake up I'm sure. I wonder if I fell off my bed and hit my head harder than normal. That seems to be happening a lot more lately.

_'What the hell, why is my floor so itchy all the sudden?' _I frowned as I rolled over onto my back so I wouldn't suffocate by grass in my sleep.

Wait a minute. GRASS!

I jumped up and tore my eyes open; unfortunately that wasn't the smartest thing I could have done at that particular.

GAH!

My eyes stung from the harsh sunlight and I dropped to my knees, fiercely rubbing my sleep crusted eyes. What the hell! Didn't I have shutters on my windows? I thought.

After rubbing my eyes, trying to blink away my grogginess and temporarily blindness for a good five minutes, I looked up trying to find anything wrong with my room that would let sunlight enter through the window.

I tilled my head upwards again from the ground and hesitantly opened my eyes. I grew stiff and froze in shock and fear.

This was not my room

This was not my house

This was not my neighborhood

I wasn't even anywhere near anything remotely civilized.

And how did I know this?

Because I was on top of what looked like to be the biggest cliff I've ever seen in my whole life; Surrounded for miles by an ocean of green, ancient looking woods, rivers that ran like blue veins through the green skin of the forest that streamed from sand colored mountains on either side; shaping the cliff faces into a crescent moon shapes by the waterfalls streaming down from their height and into the rivers below. The wind whip harshly against me from behind and as I turned around my stomach twisted itself in despair. I saw nothing but more cliffs extending upwards into a twisting mountain range with flat, lifeless, gray, rocky gorges below marked the canyon floor, with some gigantic cracks in the earth.

Bitterly cold

Utterly alone

And for some reason completely naked

"_Oh, shit."_

In that horrible moment shock turned to absolute fear that clucked my chest and forced me to drop to my knees as I began hyperventilating and gasping for air. I lifted my head to the sky, staring at a stony gray sky with the promise of a thunderstorm and the smell of rain on the wind. With wide eyes and shrunken pupils I felt a scream rip through my throat like wild-fire. I screamed in horror and disbelief as my loud screams cut through the gusty wind and echoed across the canyon like a wailing siren.

Suddenly the world grew blurry and dark as pain exploded in the back of my head with the first clap of thunder sounded in the distance. I began swaying from side to side and before I knew anything else my head hit the ground, my eyes closed and I let the creeping darkness engulf me.

* * *

_Did you all like it. I know its short but as I said again more to come!_


	3. Chapter 2

_Please, please review and comment if I'm making people to OC so far! Their all appreciated very much!_

* * *

Chapter 2:

Beep, Beep, Beep

**'My brain is misty, ugh, and foggy too.'**

Beep, Beep

**'What the hell is that sound? Ugh, it's so loud!'**

Beep! Breeppp!

**'My chest hurts….'**

BBRREEEEPPPP!

_"Hhhhmmpp"_ I moaned as feeling slowly came back into my body.

The sound of jogging footsteps could be heard from far off running closer.

I moaned again softly in pain as I could feel the blood pulsating hard to squeeze through my veins all around my body. The footsteps became increasingly quicker in their pace down the hall way.

I could feel my organs and blood pumping themselves slowly, sluggishly, almost like thick cold syrup though out my body. I couldn't feel any part of my body, it were as if I were immune to the outside world beyond the fleshly walls of my bodily prison. I could only hear and feel the inner workings of my body.

The door burst open as people flooded around the machines stationed by the bed, shouting and stabilizing as they frantically tried to save the young life in front of them.

I began to drift off to sleep again by the dull roar of my blood and the beating of my slow heart rising itself from and back to the grave.

I was out before I was even half way awake to begin with.

* * *

"_What is... diagnosis…?"_ A strong, masculine, hazy voice filled my ears slowly but abruptly.

_"Her heart... flat lining… for... but came back … own every time."_ Spoke a softer, shyer, feminine voice that was particularly too close for comfort.

_"Incredible, she's going to be a gold mine"_ whispered the male voice in awe. The voices are becoming clearer now but I'm beginning to not liking what their saying too much.

_"I want her to be awoken at once so I can begin a full series of test and diagnostics on her immediately!"_ the male commanded

_"Yes, doctor, right away"_ squeaked the mousey, I'm assuming, nurse. I could hear her shoes clinking across the room on the cold marble floor and the soft tap and click of a door lock alerted me of her leaving.

Just as I was beginning to float away again into unconscious I felt someone roughly take a fist full of my hair and lift my head with it. I wanted to scream from the pain but my lips and head were too heavy to move.

I couldn't scream or swear at my assaulter, I couldn't make a sound, except for the smaller faster gasps that we're coming through my clenched teeth. I sensed someone leaning into the curve of my neck and as their hot breath fanned over my cold neck my body shivered, in response from the breath, and I from the fear.

_"Hhhmm, yes you're a little mystery aren't you?"_ the same masculine voice from before spoke aloud.

**_'That voice, he must be the doctor from before. No wonder I didn't hear him leave the room before with the nurse.' _**

The doctor's voice stopped for a moment as if waiting for a response then continued his rant ," Oh yes, just imagine the fame I will get from you. No chakra what so ever and impossibly you're still alive. He tightened his grip on my hair in his greedy excitement.

**"The medical find of the century!" **he breathed.

**'Is this guy for real? How the hell am I the medical find of the century? No wait here's a better question, why is he manhandling me in my sleep!'_  
_**

The doctor abruptly moved away from my neck and ungracefully dropped my head back onto the pillow as soon we both heard the clicking of the nurse's shoes coming our way and the soft tap of the door being open signaled the nurse's re-arrival and the sound of rolling wheels thumping across the linoleum sounded that she had brought some sort of heavy machine with her.

_"Doctor we have the medication ready and are standing by to await your orders to begin"_, the same nurse stuttered out meekly as another nurse began to fiddle with the machines.

_"We will begin the process now"_ the doctor confirmed as he as well began tinkering with some of the equipment stationed around the bed. I felt someone's cold hands clamp down on all around my body and they began tying freezing, thick, restrains all around me.

My neck, my torso, my wrists and ankles, and anywhere else they felt needed, where pinned down to the suddenly lumpy and uncomfortable mattress under me.

**'Why are tying me down? Oh crap, what are they going to do now!' **I started mentally panicking as I tried to fight my way back to complete consciousness as I felt an immediate feeling of dread in the pit of my mind.

My arms began twitching slightly as one of the nurses broke the skin of my elbow with the cold needle and pushed the injection deep into the green, bulging vein of the inside of my elbow.

The injection wasn't that painful until the serum began its work.

It sent my body into absolutely horrible seizures as the injection sent wide fire into my veins as it made me aware of how my body felt as if it was made of ice and the fire in my veins felt as if it were boiling my blood. The nurse yelled in panic as she backed away from me very quickly.

_ "Doctor, the chakra serum isn't working!"_ she yelled again as I arced my back from the cot and howled in pain like some wild injured wild animal.

_"Keep going! She's waking up, this must work!"_ the creepy doctor shouted back enthusiastically as I heard him push the nurse away as grab my torso and slammed me down violently back onto the cot and stabbed my with another needle, this time he embedded it deep into my neck. The fire in my blood had me pleading to whatever god was out there to let my go back into my mental darkness.

The pain in my neck finally did it the trick and I arched my back once more, knocking the doctor to the ground, and snapping my eyes open to show the whites of my eyes. My mouth was open in a frozen scream of angst but nothing could escape my clenched throat. I had arched my back so high it looked almost as if I were being snapped in two like a toothpick by some invisible force.

Sweat clung to my body and matted the hair, that wasn't hanging limply from the bed, to my scalp. I hover like that for a moment as my intense pain sky rocketed.

Somehow for no reason at all, the pain began subsiding very quickly in a warm rush of energy and was gone as suddenly as it came. The absence of the pain left me to crash limply onto the bed yet again as I looked blankly at the ceiling through my dilated pupils, while my harsh gasping and coughing filled the shocked, stunned silence of the hospital room. The pervert doctor stood up from the floor, gaping at what he just saw what he thought was to be impossible. One of the nurses took a shaky step forward

"Her, her body… j-just rejected and ex-spelled…the c-chakra, both yin and y-yang" She stuttered out in shock, as her face contorted in disbelief and confusion.

The doctor snapped out of his stupor and turned to address the nurse that hadn't spoken

"Get the machine ready, I need to speak to someone about this… special situation"

He spoke nervously with fear creeping into his voice as his eyes shift uneasily before he turned on his heel and fled. The nurse began walking up to the machine and fiddling with the overly simple knobs and such as the doctor walked out the door.

I was still limp on the hospital bed, ignoring everything around me as I kept breathing harsh ragged breaths to desperately cool my lungs and to assure myself I was still alive; that was until I saw the older nurse coming towards me with another needle.

I hissed with my last exhale and snapped my head in her direction as she walked closer. She stopped and stared at my tense and angry glare and frowned in distaste

"Relax brat, I don't know what's wrong with you but we will figure it out and then we'll make it all better" she half cooed and half mockingly assured me with her own glowering face as she prepped the syringe for air bubbles. My glaring expression never left my hazy, bloodshot eyes as I tried for some answers from the nurses

"_Who are you people? Where am I?"_ I questioned hoarsely and gimmicked in pain. She didn't answer but simply walked forward to restrain me yet again.

"AND JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!" I screamed the last question in her face as she garbed my already sore neck and tried to expose the flesh above my jugular once again. She glared at me and then at the meeker nurse before ordering her to help hold me down.

I struggled to thrash around but they held my weaken form down with some effort before they injected the syringe once more, none to gently into my jugular vein.

Then the horrible searing pain came back into my body and the cycle began itself all over again.

* * *

Near the border of the rain country in the passive looking forest there was a hidden waterfall basin where an abandon gate shrine stood. The gate shrine stood before a massive hidden cave with an equally massive boulder blocking the entrance and shielding the occupants inhabiting the cave from any unwanted intruders. The cave occupants were ninja, naturally, though these ninja belonged no more too hidden villages or clans, they instead belonged to their secret organization made of S-class criminals with their evil intentions in mind and action.

The Akatsuki organization in question was individually perched atop giant stone fingers belonging to a shrine known as the demon statue of the outer paths. Eyes closed in focus and hands forming various hand signs, they all were concentrating extremely hard on the sealing justu of the prone figure levitating in the air before them.

The floating figure was another ninja formally from the earth country. The nameless man had his head rolled back and mouth open in an agonizing grimace of pain while angry red chakra was swirling and pouring out of his mouth and eyes and being sucked greedily into the open snout of the demonic statue. His body was surrounded by an intense bluish chakra branching from every member that was slowly sucking the very life from his bones.

This man unfortunately was being killed not for anything he had done but for a monstrous tailed demon sealed deep inside his soul and mind that these ninja were sealing away inside the statue.

Suddenly each member felt a sense of Nature's natural chakra being pierced by some invisible force that their own chakra was connected to, and a painful ripping sensation deep within their own chests. The red chakra belonging to the tailed demon felt this pain as well, and with a thunderous, animatistic roar that seemingly came from nowhere the beast twisted quickly out of complete control of the Akatsuki's grasp as it flew completely out from the host and into the statue so violently that the bodily shell of the host was crushed like tin foil as his blood splattered everywhere like a haphazard fountain of entrails and painfully bright red liquid that drenched most of the cave.

The shocked and confused silence that followed was deafening; though none of the members could see each other's faces in their holographic forms the confusion was rolling off even the most stoic members of the group. As all their chest pains slowly crept away someone broke the tense silence very loudly.

"_What the Fuck was that!"_ Hidan growled out as he wiped the blood from his cloak.

"_Shut up"_ five voices spoke in unison at the same time as Kakuzu delivered a silent punch to Hidan's skull. The psychopathic Jahsinist sulked quietly as Pein threw a vicious glare at him, signaling for him to remain silent.

Pein then stared impassively at the many eyes staring at him to explain the situation and assign them orders.

"_Whatever caused such interference to create such an unrest in nature chakra itself as well as the tailed beasts within the statue was extremely unstable as well as potentially powerful."_ Pein opened his eyes revealing the Rinnegan as he challenged anyone to interrupt him in his speech with the promise of severe punishment. He paused for a moment.

"_All of you will drop your previous missions and find the cause of this unbalance immediately, once you have found the cause inform every one of its location and form then return to the base." _

"_Dismissed" _

He spoke once more before making a hand sign and vanishing as his holograph faded out. Many other members grumbled in annoyance at the vague task assign to them.

One by one they faded out like candle flames in the wind leaving the secret base the same way it had stood this morning but with an extra coat of entrails and blood for the walls...again.

* * *

Criticism is welcome.


	4. Chapter 3

_I don't own Naruto, only Masashi Kishimoto does, but damn I wish I did!_

* * *

Chapter 3

_"AH!"_

I gasped in pain again as I fell from by arched position above the bed to flopping indignantly onto my side once again.

I was in agony like I had never been in or imagined before.

I panted shallow, hoarse breathes as my apparent examination or as I dubbed it, 'the torture session', was still in full swing. The nurses followed the doctor's orders exactly even though he had left long ago, but I didn't make it easy for them.

I had fought the nurses every time they had tried to give me another needle filled with some bright green liquid that glowed in the light. With every ounce of strength left I had punched at them, clawed at them, screamed at them, and managed to successfully kick the older, chubbier nurse in the chest. The older nurse keep insisting they were trying to save me but they both ignored all my pleads and my hysterical swearing as the one I had kicked would randomly shoot out question I was either too confused about or I was in too much pain at the moment to answer, either way they couldn't get any useful information they were so key on finding from me.

The night went on and on, it felt like pure unabridged hell until the first rays of sunlight began creeping slowly through the window curtains of the hospital room. I moaned in pain as the weak sunlight reached my still sensitive eyes and I closed them in pure exhaustion. The nurses took notice of the morning light as well because I distinctly hear the older one I had kicked sigh in aggravation.

"_That's enough we've been at this all night, look it's already morning!"_ snapped the cranky, chubby nurse as she pulled the needle from my arm roughly.

_"And I'm frankly fed up with this brat!"_ she yelled over her shoulder in frustration as she started examining her clipboard across the room. I couldn't see it but I'm sure the quieter, smaller nurse nodded in exhaustion.

_"Alright I'm going, you lock up before you leave but give that damn brat a sedative before you go; my chest still hurts from her kicking at me!"_ she growled. I smiled slightly despite myself knowing that she was probably rubbing her said area and wincing.

'**It's a good thing I'm facing the other way from her.'**

I could feel her burning holes in the back of my head with her glare even after her annoying loud footsteps faded down the hallway. I stiffened as I heard the other nurse hesitantly walk towards me. I braced myself from the next needle to be pushed into my already sore and stiff arms, but nothing came. I heard her drop something on the nightstand next to the bed.

I slowly cracked opened my eyes slightly to see her hovering over me with a faint expression of pity and guilt.

"_I'm so sorry they did that to you and I'm so sorry I helped"_ she said in a strangled whisper and I could see faintly some tears at the corners of her eyelashes. I mentally frowned at her apology as I observed her closely.

I hadn't really bothered to get a good look at her until now. I realized in some shock that she was very young. This nurse was probably only around eighteen or so while the other one was probably older then my mother. She had coal black hair that fell down to her back and over her shoulders, she had very pale snowy skin. She was very pretty and had very warm and kind brown eyes that seem to shimmer in the dawn light as they stared back at me with guilt in them.

'**She's so young! She's more or less four or three years older than me, while the other one is an old hag! How is she a nurse in this horrible place?'** I thought in bewilderment and suddenly realized that this was just like my previous thought about the doctor.

**"What kind of hospital is this? Crazy, sadistic, perverted doctors and kind, barely legal girl nurses running around under this same roof! And they all get to torture me! What the hell?" **I mentally screamed my head off.

As I opened my eyes more to stare confusedly at her she reached over to my nightstand to gently show me a few blue pills she had in her grasp.

_"Here, I don't want to drug you again with another needle so I slipped these for you when old Ms. Madoka wasn't looking"_ she grinned shyly as she opened me mouth for me and placed the pills on my dry tongue. I wanted to spit out the acidly pills as they foamed in my mouth my she held a hand to my mouth and shook her head with a stern look. I took another long, hard look at her face and after another moment decided she looked sincere enough as I swallowed the pills reluctantly and winced as they slid down my sore and raw throat. The softness returned to her face as she switched her hand from covering my mouth to ruffling my hair softly with some affection in her warm eyes. She smiled again as she giggled about something.

"_Ms. Madoka will probably still be sore tomorrow, you should have seen her face I though she must have blown a fuse" _She chucked again_ "She probably hates you for it now you know, but I have to admit it was still kinda of funny."_

I returned the smile while nodding my head slightly_. _

A small grin formed on my beaten face as I contemplated how easily I had let her touch me and I realized with some sadness of how much this girl looked like someone I had lost in a way. She spoke and snapped me out of my thoughts after a minute of petting my hair.

"_You know, you look a lot like my little sister"_ she murmured hesitantly as she stared at my dirty blond hair between her fingers. I smiled lopsided at her and slurred back through the drugs.

"_You remind me of my mother"_ I confessed accidentally.

'**Stupid**!'I mentally beat myself up over that very uncalled for and stupid confession.

'**The drugs are getting to me' **I though begrudgingly.

She widened her eyes in surprise as she stopped stroking my hair. I ignored her expression as I felt my checks grow warm and closed my eyes in exhaustion and pain of how sore I felt myself become after the rough treatment I had last night. I felt her warm body heat fade as she calmly stood up from my bedside and sigh in relief as she thought I had passed out painlessly. She quietly began to walk out of the room but froze in surprise as she heard me call out once more

"_What's your name?"_ I called out desperately, as much as I could while fighting the sedative to hear her answer. I didn't know why I wanted to know so badly but rationalized it was because she was so kind to me so far. I could hear a smile on her lips as she spoke one last time

"_Yukiko"_ She whispered quietly as she left soundlessly.

I nodded as the door clicked shut and I lost consciousness.

* * *

In the early morning light of the dawn the vast, endless forest shone in golden, red, and pink hues of the dawn making the trees seem on fire in the late autumn morning. In a small clearing two men could be seen stalking towards a small opening cut into the base of a small cliff, dragging another hapless and pleading man towards the stairs that lead downwards towards the entrance to the underground base.

In the darkness of the underground cavern flaming torches flickered ominously along crude cut out stone hallways and cast sinister shadows of the two shinobi dragging the struggling man in a white lab coat flecked with bright red blood down the endless maze of hallways. Pleads of the man could be heard from a long distance as they echoed across the cavern walls.

"_I'm telling you I'm telling the truth, I saw it with my own eyes!"_ the man slurred swaying slightly and he stunk of alcohol as he tried to control himself in his drunken stupor as the two identically dressed shinobi threw him to his knees inside a large chamber.

"_Shut up"_ barked one of the shinobi as they began restraining him with some ropes.

"_Restrains will not be necessary"_ spoke a neutral voice from the opposite end of the room. Both shinobi looked up and quickly stopped their advance they both silently stood on either side of the entrance before disappearing in two puffs of smoke. The doctor looked up hesitantly from his knelling position on the floor and as his eyes adjusted to the dim light from the few torches on the walls as he tried peering towards the shaded back part of the chamber.

As he adjusted to the darkness he began to shiver in fear, through he tried not to show it, he caught on to the three gazes of the back of the room; two young men standing on either side of a throne and an on older looking figure sitting in the throne were all gazing back at him.

"_Come closer, good doctor_" hissed the snake like voice of the man seated in the throne. The doctor quickly scrambled from the floor and bowed as low as he could without falling over from his drunkenness.

"_L-Lord Orochimaru, please I beg you to let me explain...I have found something… _he began.

_Uughh!"_ The man found himself punched harshly in the stomach as he coughed and gasped on the floor with the air knocked out of him. He saw a pair of feet belonging to the man that had stood next to orochimaru previously that had somehow appeared directly in front of his line of vision.

"_Kabuto, bring him closer"_ Orochimaru demanded harshly, his temper lost to the winds now as he realized that his prisoner was drunk.

Kabuto picked up the man by the collar and tilted his glasses eerily; as they reflected the shine of light from the torches. He smirked diabolically before throwing the doctor half way across the room, and crashing in a heap roughly before orochimaru's throne. Kabuto quickly appeared besides the throne once again as the doctor was left with a few broken bones as he tried to pick himself off the ground unsuccessfully, and rein in his nausea.

The snake sannin hissed at the doctor, the anger now evident in his voice _"Where is the fee you owe_ _me, Yamanashi!"_ he braked out.

"_My lord I swear I will repay you with... "_At the nod from orochimaru the other figure that had not moved but stood silently by the throne began advancing towards the doctor slowly, drawing his katana out from his sheath and tilting it so the sword caught the light, he glared down at the man in disgust and the mysterious man's eyes suddenly flashed the brilliant red of his Kekkei Genkai or bloodline trait.

"_PLEASE! I have found something that will repay my debt to you a hundred times over!"_ exclaimed the doctor in fear for his life as he cowered away from the deadly assassin before him. Orochimaru now interested in the doctor's response calmly addressed the teenager before him,

"_Sasuke kun do not kill him yet"_ he spoke unenthusiastically. Kabuto frowned at the delay in blood shedding but did not voice his thoughts. Sasuke slowly lowered his katana, still glaring at the man before him and in a flash materialized by the snake's throne again soundlessly. His eyes blood red glinted in the fire light with a cold predatory gaze as he returned to glaring at the man impassively. The doctor loudly in his drunken stupor forced himself on his knees as his head swam in cold fear and nausea as he faced the sannin, knowing he was treading thin ice, he spoke through his pain clenched throat.

"_I have recently acquired something that has previous defied logic that I would have not believed if I had not seen it with my own eyes, my lord."_ He bowed to the ground as he continued

_"A nearby village recently had found an injured girl and brought her to my hospital. I would have denied them if it wasn't for their claiming that the girl's her heart had stopped but that she continued breathing without difficult and convincing the villagers that she must be some kind of spirit. We examined her reluctantly and found her heart would indeed stop and then after long periods of time start up again with no assistance." _He stopped in the middle of his rant and shakily looked up at orochimaru expression. Orochimaru looked engrossed in thought and spoke in disgusting fascination for him to continue with his story. The doctor continued with less trepidation into his story at orochimaru's engrossed expression.

"_Eventually she stabilized herself as we tried running an experimental chakra serum into her system; but her body rejected the chakra completely and expelled it into the natural chakra in nature; it then caused extreme pain and woke her. We ran more experiments to see what was wrong with her chakra system but we found absolutely nothing_" the doctor sucked in a breath to finish his discovery

"_She has no chakra system or chakra whatsoever, but she is still alive"_ he breathed as he finished in his tyrannical speech.

Silence and disbelieve filled the room and blanketed them all like a thick blanket of ice cold snow. Suddenly orochimaru's extremely long tongue flicked out of his mouth in a snake like manner as if sensing the doctor's fear and cockiness in the air at the same time; and then a malicious, twisted grin grew on his face.

"_You have found something quite interesting indeed my good doctor_" the snake sannin purred in delight. A smug grin grew on the doctor's mug as well, in his cockiness at the praise; Orochimaru's grin grew more vicious as he spotted the doctor's smug simile.

"_But it seems now that your debt has been paid off indeed…" _

The doctor's insane grin fell quickly as an intense sense of terror over took him as he realized the sannin wasn't smiling with him but at him, and that malicious, hungry gaze in his cold yellow snake eyes meant something else entirely.

"…_There is no more use for you."_

Faster than lighting, the doctor felt something hit him on his chest were his heart was and thick stream of blood danced in midair in front of his vision as he locked eyes with the stoic red eyed boy from before. His eyes widen, his jaw went slack and his pupils dialated once more before they rolled to the back of his skull and dark red blood ozoed from his open mouth and on to the floor. Doctor Yamanashi's cold body fell to the stone floor limply as still fresh blood poured from his chest and mouth and pooled dark, red, bloody puddles around his body; drenching his bleched white doctor's coat a bright cherry red.

"_Good work sasuke, straight through the heart"_ orochimaru praised the murdering younger uchiha fondly.

"_Hn"_

Sasuke didn't turn his head to acknowledge orochimaru anymore vaguely than anyone else as he began to stalk out the door_._

_"Kabuto, get the guards to clean up this mess"_ Orochimaru hissed saturated with the gruesome scene before him. Kabuto smirked, feeling the same emotions of his satisfied blood lust.

He compiled without question and disappeared in a cloud of smoke without a word to summon more guards. Now alone orochimaru turned his attention to the corpse of the dead doctor before him grinning sadistically.

"_Don't worry my dear Doctor Yamanashi, I'll send my Sasuke kun to take good care of your little patient"_ orochimaru chuckled deeply as his tongue darted out and twisted in the air like a living snake letting falling saliva drip down his chin; as his golden snake like eyes flashed in the candle light with hungry anticipation.

"_I can't wait to meet her"._

* * *

Run OC run!

Anyways, I need a little bit of feedback for some ideas so please review and/or comment! Thank you for reading, you just made my day.


	5. Chapter 4

Note: My character's name is Amanda, be warned I guess this is kinda of a Self-Insert of story. Kinda...believe me it will be anything but boring or predictable.

Anyhow, enjoy!

**Xxxxxx **[thoughts]

_Xxxxxxx _[dialog]

* * *

Chapter 4:

The cool autumn afternoon greeted me when I woke up in the hospital room, alone as ever.

I had wanted to sleep in more but the green, florescent light of the various machines in the room pierced the back of my eyelids, and the continuous beeps of the heart monitor assaulted my ears in my unconscious state. All these distractions threw away my hopes of sleeping a little while longer and keeping me from facing my strange new problems; no matter how much I just wanted to sleep forever.

The muted sunlight from the oncoming storm cast eerie shadows into the corners of the dark room. I cracked open my eyes slowly to the shaded, cold room as my thoughts came rushing back to me. Memories of my painful experiences from last night slowly crept into my mind as well. I looked down at myself in confusion.

'**Was that all just some horrible freaky nightmare?' **

I winced as I moved my arms to prop myself up against my pillows, my arms where sore and my body felt fatigued. I glanced down to look at my arms and realized the insides my elbows and forearms were covered in gauze and had faint patches of dried blood seeping through the padding when I had started to bend my elbows in examination.

As I remembered the doctor's brutal injections I reached up to my neck with a sinking feeling and winced as I rubbed my bandaged neck while feeling more dried fluid crusted onto the skin underneath the wraps. I hissed as pain as the IV needles jostled inside the tender flesh of my elbow again.

My eyes narrowed as anger suddenly flooded through me all at once. I was pissed off.

For being used as a lab rat, being interrogated, and top that on being alone, scared, confused, and having no idea of where I was.

**'What the hell did I do to desvere this!'** I garbed the pads and needles injected into my arms, neck, and chest and threw them across the room in my anger as the IV machine crashed to the ground.

My hands began to shake as I picked my legs out from the jumbled mess of the sheets and drew my knees to my chest. I hugged myself tightly in a fetal position; I ignored the stinging in my arms and chest as I closed my eyes and rest my head against my knees. Sighing a long, shuddering breath

"_Alright you got me I'm scared, someone come out of the corner and scream surprise." _I asked half jokingly yet half pleading to the empty room.

No one did come out of one of one of those shadowed corners but the door did swing open abruptly and a tall, young, lanky man with slicked lilac hair in a doctor's coat stepped halfway into the room. He had his nose stuck in his clipboard until he glanced up and noticed me and froze in mid step across the room. His eyes were stern and his face was flustered as if he was angry for some unsightly reason as the tips of his ears started turning a bright shade of red. Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.

He looked at me in annoyance _"Why are up! You shouldn't be awake and causing so much noise at this hour!" _he looked back at his clipboard in a huff and began jotting something down.

**'Then why the heck is he yelling at me if he wants quiet?' **I mused as I started at his strangely colored hair.

He then noticed the IV machine I had knocked over before and the detached wires crumpled around it in a heap. He snapped his gaze back at me and narrowed his eyes as he readjusted his thick glasses back onto his nose.

"_It seems you're destructive too"_ he growled in a possibly more annoyed tone as he resumed scribbling ferociously in his notes again. He quickly snapped his clipboard shut to reveal him smirking at me in a hungry looking way. I shuddered slightly in disgust as I turned away from his expression.

**Freak.**

"_Hm… it seems you'll have to be restrained again"_

He mused while running his fingers through his hair. My head snapped back to stare at him, my hands clenched up into fist in my lap, shaking somewhat, as my anger quickly came back in full force. My face must have shown my internal battle because his smirk fell into a small frown as his glasses slipped slightly off his nose to reflect the dim sunlight in the room.

"_Nurse"_ he called sternly as a shadow I hadn't noticed before calmly stepped into the doorway.

It was that nurse I had kicked before; Madoka was her name?

She frowned as well in distain as soon as she caught sight of me, but then smirked in triumph as she brought another needle into my view; squirting some excess liquid in the air in a long thin stream. While I was so focused on the needle in the nurse's hand that I failed to notice when this new doctor started slowly approaching me.

That was until he practically jumped on top of me and pinned me to the bed.

As he sat on my legs and held my arms to my sides while the nurse strapped some of the leather restraints from the night before back onto my arms and around my abdomen. I wanted to puke from the wave of instant nausea and déjà feeling of helplessness as Madoka tightened the restraints so I couldn't thrash around anymore. He didn't get off me either.

"_Now then, let's start with where you're from shall we?" _

He questioned leering down at me as I felt in my fear numbed mind as Madoka injected me again and began placing the IV's back onto my body.

"_Do you treat all your patients with this crappy service?" _my outburst didn't faze him as he leaned into my face and breathed into my ear.

"_Only the special ones"_ he purred in my ear. I glared at him but quickly changed my expression when his hungry face was inches from mine. I choked in fear for a moment before I closed my eyes not wanting to see his hungry expression any longer.

"_I'm from Ohio" _I answered hesitantly, still closing my eyes in fear.

"_What country is this village in?"_ he huffed, bored by the sound of it.

I opened my eyes quickly in shock at his ignorance _"Ohio, as in Ohio, America? It isn't a village, its a country"_ I corrected him as I watched his and Madoka's expression turn into twin reflections of my confused face.

"_The head injury must have done more damage than we originally assumed, perhaps scrambling some memories"_ Suggested the flabbergasted nurse. The new doctor huffed in annoyance this time _"Fine then we will get back to that, what is your name and position." _

"_I don't work and my name is Amanda"_ they furrowed their brows again as the nurse tried to pronounce my name.

"_Am...ende..A? That's a name I haven't heard before"_ and failing I might add.

The doctor pinched his face in annoyance while the nurse still struggled to figure out how to properly pronounce my name.

"_You must have a position...you"_ he stopped briefly when he saw my still miffed expression and signed " _A position, as in were you work, what village you serve, whether you have received training as a shinobi or not, things like that"_ I blinked,

"_Shinobi?"_ I asked in surprise.

'**Isn't that something out of that anime Naruto**? I narrowed my eyes in thought.

**'Is this guy is some kind of naruto fanatic? It explains the hair though'**, I mused dryly still staring at the man's perfectly slicked lilac hair. The man again caught my narrowed eyes piercing up at his hair and rudely snapped his fingers in front of my face to call back my attention from his hair.

"_Yes, a shinobi or ninja as some people like to call it" He_ informed. I gave him a disbelieving look to voice my inner sarcasm at his ridicules assumption. He started back, ignoring my look and was waiting for an answer as he still sat on my legs. I growled at his stupidity.

"_Are you kidding me? No! I'm not a ninja, assassin, or a spy so get off me already!'_ I snapped my patience long since took a hike. I tried kicking at him from underneath his weight but he and the restraint held me down successfully. He pursed his lips in annoyance at my mood swings

_"Alright now that we have you remembering things what country are you from again?" _he pressed. I frowned at him again

"_America, how have you not heard of it? Are you seriously that retarded!"_ I yelled my voice raising an octave higher in my frustration.

His face quickly turned a horrible, deep purple shade to match his hair.

"_Listen here brat. There are only certain countries in this world and America is not one of them. Let me refresh your memory since you have no geography skills whatsoever." _He spat at me as he held up his fingers. I glared at him and bared my teeth for insulting my intelligence

_"There are only five great shinobi nations; the lands of fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning." _He glanced back at me.

_"There are other smaller countries such as iron, grass, rain, wave, and sound. Ringing any bells?"_ he finished his little speech as he leered down at me still expecting an answer. I stared back at him in disbelief thinking he was pulling my leg a little too far. That was until I saw the dead set look in his eyes that flat out told me he wasn't lying at all.

I immediately paled to a scary shade of white that could have made Orochimaru jealous as all the blood left my face. I twisted and turned around so fast that I felt my head spin and my stomach do flips as I stared out the window at the autumn leafs dancing in the wind of the last rays of afternoon sunlight.

'**A-Autumn! It was summer last time I went outside!'**

I was shocked, speechless, stunned, silenced and whatever else there was to describe the overwhelming onslaught of emotions that threatened to crush me. The heart monitor that the nurse had reattached onto my chest spiked dramatically and began screeching as loud as it could go while my heart went on a joyride.

Panic and confusion suddenly swept across the doctor's face as he quickly jumped off my legs and the nurse began to run out the door screaming for some heart stabilizers. My mind went into over drive as the words of both the doctors and nurses played over and over in my head like a broken record_._

**_("Oh yes, just imagine the fame I will obtain from you. No chakra what so ever and impossibly you're still alive.")_**

**_("The medical find of the century!" he breathed)_**

**_("The Chakra serum isn't working!" one of the nurses screamed)_**

**'Shinobi, Five great shinobi nations'**

**'Chakra, chakra, chakra…'**

**...**

It was too much to handle all at once in my mind.

A blank whiteness that clouded my vision and in my mind everything stopped in something less than a second. It left all the thoughts in my mind detached, and suspended as if floating in air.

I could see a huge mass of multi colored swirling energy in my whiteout. I felt as if just its presence alone was going to crush me into bloody pulp and that white hot pokers were being jabbed through my eye sockets and into directly into my brain.

I don't know how long my mind blanked in panic but it slowly my mind began to function again. I was aware of everything outside of my mind and also of nothing within my mind.

My mind had become an empty void, I could see what was going on but could not think or speak about anything. What I did see was that I had somehow managed to have fallen on the floor limply and begin to vomit while two more nurses rushed into the room. They started to pick me up as the new doctor simply stood quietly in the corner, staring at something in particular and not breathing a word.

"_She's going into shock!"_ shouted a familiar voice. Then a soft face appeared in my darkening vision as wide concerned chocolate orbs hovered over my face.

"_Y-yuk-kiko"_ I whispered painfully .

She must have heard her name out loud because she glanced back to my face and pushed the hairs that had stuck to my sweating face.

"_You are going to be alright, I promise"_ she soothed while stroking my jaw tenderly.

Suddenly we both heard footsteps could be heard next to my prone form.

Yukiko looked up and I saw her go rigid and stiff in surprise, her mouth opened in shock and her doe like eyes got wider as fear shone in them. Her expression only grew worse as strong arms lifted me from the floor and my mind could make out slurred speech past all the drugs coursing through my body.

"_Liar" _murmured a dark, cold almost smirking voice that would have made my very skin crawl if I were conscious enough to do so.

I heard the doctor walk closer and spoke very respectfully to the stranger that held my in his arms like a small child.

"_I apologize for her behavior and appearance but I assure you her injuries were inflicted before she came into our care._" I could hear his feet shuffle nervously as the mysterious person turned around to glare at the man.

He gasped in shock and did not continue.

I then heard soft footsteps walk quickly to my bedside and cold, feminine hands grasped my upper arm and squeezed tightly, as if she were trying to prevent me from being taken away. Yukiko gulped before continuing the doctor's speech with some fear in her voice, though she tried not to show it.

_"We believe though she is not in critical condition yet she very soon could be again if we leave her to deal with the aftershock without treatment, with all do respect you should wait just a bit longer before you take her with you."_ After a tense moment the arms around me hesitated slightly, before the stranger carrying me walked soundlessly over to the cot and dropped me back onto it. After another minute or so the silky voice spoke again next to my bed side when the doctor repeated that I would soon be ready.

"_Hn"_ was the stoic reply.

I swear my limp body froze as my gut dropped to my feet. I prayed to whatever god that was up there that the mystery stranger was not who I think it was; before I lost consciousness again.

* * *

Somewhere, sometime in the fiery autumn forest of the sound country two shadowy blurs where racing trough the tree tops with inhuman speed and ease. Their black cloaks billowed in the crisp wind and the red, puffy clouds on them seemed as if they wanted to fly off the fabric and into the evening sky with the moon. The two figures halted suddenly as if hit by an invisible, dark wall and they stood up from their crouched positions, tense and alert in the moonlight as they balanced on the treetops. Their straw hat tipped over to hide their faces as they quietly surveyed the area.

"_Did you feel that?"_ A deep rough, raspy voice questioned his partner and breaking the night silence.

"_It must be the disturbance leader wanted us to find_." Replied a smoother, deep voice. The one that had spoken before tilted his hat upward slightly to show off his mouth full of pearly, shark like teeth in a wide smirk.

"_Well then imagine that, it was out here in the middle of Orochimaru's territory where no one else would want to be."_ He mused as he readjusted a giant, bandaged sword strapped to his back in anticipation. The sword seemed to shake in the shadows in its master's anticipation for blood as well. _"Isn't this were your brother is Itachi?"_ the shark man asked again.

"_Hn"_ was the stoic answer his partner received. They wasted no time after their little exchange as they leaped into the green wall of trees again with the faint jingling of the bells attached to their hats echoing in the green maze of the nighttime landscape.

* * *

Yea...only two people in the world that can really pull the "Hn' thing off so that should narrow the guessing by quite a bit. I hope you enjoyed and please don't forget to review.


	6. Chapter 5

Here's the next chapter. Please review and thank you to those of you that have already reviewed and/or followed or favored this story.

Chapter 5:

* * *

Night had descended quickly and quietly upon the sound country and over the small darkening compound hidden along the forest edge.

As the pale twilight of dusk slowly faded out to the harvest moon's overly luminous glow, its light began to shine over the heavens and between the twisting fiery branches of the dying autumn trees as they shed their leaves for the upcoming winter. Their branches cast dark, imposing shadows along the open windows and wooden walls of the hospital as the golden moon shone mercifully on the black forest below and flooded my room in moonlight.

When I awoke I wasted no time and tore my eyes open and abruptly sat up ignoring the way my body ached in protest from any further movement. As my slowly eyes roamed around the room and as my eyes adjusted to the moonlight shadows I realized I had once again had woken up in an abandoned and silent room in the dead of night.

The breaths I had held in now came in short pants and gasps as sweat dribbled slowly down my back and neck and cooled in the cold night breeze that drifted lazily through my open window. I looked down at myself quickly as I tried to reassure myself that the ugly nightmare I had was nothing more than a terrible nightmare that my overly stressed brain had concocted.

As I turned away from my distorted mental images I steered my thoughts towards disproving my dream by taking a small double take of myself. Unfortunately it shattered all my hopes in proving my dream wrong.

My arms were covered in fresh bandages with more dried blood that seeped through the bandages. All the previous tubes and needles had been put back into place in my bruised flesh and the parts of my arms that were not warped up were decorated in cuts and scratches.

I tried lifting my arms to feel my neck but they didn't budge. Dread seeped into my stomach as I twisted and turned to kick off the sheets from my lower body as best I could without the use of my arms.

As the sheets fell to the floor I shuddered as my bare legs were hit by the cold, night wind from the open window. I grimaced at the site of my legs. The moonlight made them look ghostly pale and they were riddled with angry red cuts as well as greenish yellowing bruises dotting my shins and thighs. As I was inspecting my legs I saw what was holding my wrists down.

The nurses had once again strapped my wrist with restraints to immobilize my arms.

I grunted as I tried squeezing and twisting my hands out of them; they still won't budge in inch. I sighed in frustration and defeats as a slight burning sensation crawled into my neck were I was sure there were more bloody bandages and an IV needle.

I was a mess in short.

'**I haven't even looked at my face yet'**

I though glumly as I frowned at picturing my reflection in a mirror at the moment. I closed my eyes from the sight of my sore body and groaned softly as I lowered myself back onto the bed, trying not to make too much noise at the thought of attracting unwanted attention.

I laid on the bed staring at the ceiling as my thoughts came back to me and my mind started to go a mile a minute.

'**I'm in Naruto? The Naruto? How is that possible?'** my eyes widen in shock as that thought entered my mind.

'**This is just a manga, it's a story, and it just doesn't exist out of nowhere! It's not a real place with real people!'** Even as I mentally screamed this to the higher heavens I knew truly that I was just deludiing myself now.

I mentally cried as I stared more feverishly at the ceiling, as if the ceiling would drop the answers right in my lap. My eyes widened even more as fear and helplessness washed over me in a tidal wave of emotions.

'**But…even if I this is all real how in the world do I get myself home?'**

'**W-What about my family, what about my mother…?'**

I closed my eyes as tears pricked and stung the back of my eyeballs as I held back a sob that threaten to unleash tears worthy of Niagara falls down my face. The sob still managed to escape though, in a slight half choked version. The image of a brightly cheerful woman with deep brown orbs that shined with warmth assaulted my mind.

In the memory she smiled at me in tenderness as she stroked my dirty hair through her fingers. I bit my tongue, trying to swallow the lump in my throat as I tried desperately to think of anything thing that wouldn't send me into a flood of tears. My hand clenched so tightly around sheets that my knuckles where as white as a corpse. I bowed my head so that my hair covered my eyes as I twisted my face in pain for that one sliver of a minute.

A small tear leaked down the side of my eye as the loss hit me.

As it passed I sucked in a deep breath and opened my eyes to the ceiling as I pushed away the pain of my missing world and mentally brought myself back to this new, cold, hard reality. I realized fairly quickly I couldn't doubt this place's existence anymore, what was happening, and where I was. I knew lying to make myself to make me feel happy would only make everything worse.

The cards were on the table now and I had to play my hand on what I knew.

'**It's the only way I'm going to get out of here'** I reminded myself as I looked from side to side at the hospital room that had become my prison. I thought hard as I reviewed everything I come to know up to this point.

'**Alright the questions and crying have to wait. I-Im here and stuck here and that's what's happening now'** I narrowed my eyes again and pouted in thought.

**'Alright, I remember waking up near a cliff and a forest then blacking out, so think forest and cliffs. I'm nowhere near the wind country's desert or the water country's oceans then. But judging by the treatment I'm getting here I don't think I'm anywhere near the fire country. I think that they would have at least been a bit gentler.' **

I winced as I tried to ignore the faint throbbing in the crook of my neck.

**'So, no water country, no wind country, no fire country, I don't think I'm near the earth or the lighting country, it's not nearly rocky or high enough' **

I frowned as I sensed a dead end coming up.

I tried recalling the doctor's speech before on this confusing geography and I remembered the smaller shinobi countries in between the five great nations. I smiled as my mental roadblock cleared and then it fell as I remembered just which small countries there were and then my gut dropped out from under me as I recalled who lorded over these places.

'**Grass, rain, and sound.'**

'**I'm not in grass country, after all I didn't see rice patties at all from the cliff, and I'm not in the rain country it hasn't sprinkled once so that means I'm in….'** my eyes widen in horror as I felt vomit rise in the back of my throat when the realization hit me. But then another though broke my train of thought as a random memory popped in my head. It was about the last time I blacked out from shock; about the person who picked me up from the floor.

* * *

"_Please just wait a few more hours until she's stabilized then you may take her back to him"_ pleaded Yukiko bravely as she tighten her hands around my limply dangling arm in fear.

'_Hn'_ a stoic cold voice replied.

* * *

"_Oh great" _

I whispered softly as the total realization hit me in the chest like a ton of bricks and knocked the breath out of me. I closed my eyes and began trembling as I pictured in my mind's eye the only two people who could pull off that single catch phase so instinctively.

Pitch black raven hair and snow-white skin came to mind as well as spinning eyes of ruby-red with black designs imbedded within their cold and bloody irises that stared me down with no emotion or sympathy.

I violently shook my head trying to block out the unsettling images of floating red eyes glaring down at me and suddenly all the pieces floating around in my mind fell into place like a jinx saw puzzle.

'**I've landed in the world of Naruto, I'm in the sound country, I'm trapped like a rat in this shabby hospital, and Orochimaru has sent his pet Uchiha here for me?'**

I blinked in disbelief at the absurdness of it all.

Before I could contemplate the why's and how's of Orochimaru's intentions at sending Sasuke here, the door handle started jiggling as someone began to open the door.

Like a deer caught in headlight I froze but after an impulsive decision as the door slowly swung open I shut my eyes and went limp as I played dead. I hoped feverishly it wasn't who I think it was and squeezed my eyes more tightly in fear not wanting to look into the spinning red eyes of my soon would be kidnapper.

* * *

Hands firmly garbed the limp girl on the cot as they gently tried to shake her awake from her sleep like performance. A figure stood over the appeared sleeping girl and bit their lip anxiously when she didn't stir and feared the IV and drugs did more harm than good to her conditions. Small hands grasped the girl's upper shoulders tightly again as they trying desperately once again to wake her.

"_Amanda…Amanda it's me." _

The figure's light voice filtered through the girls' ears and she groggily opened her eyes in sleepy surprise at the person by her bedside.

"_Yukiko" _she murmured hoarsely when she caught sight of familiar warm, brown orbs staring down into her glazed over ones. This time Yukiko's eyes where shinning in the night with raw fear, concern, and panic, instead of her own. Catching her emotional eyes Amanda began to worry deeply at what was happening.

"_You need to get of here, you need to run away"_ she fiercely whispered in my ear as she began taking the tubes and needles out and freeing me from the restraints around my wrists.

Once I was free I swung my legs around to the bedside and tried to stand up while Yukiko toke my arm around her shoulders and leaned me against her for support. I grunted in frustration as I winced as the pain shot up my sore back.

"_What are you doing? What's going on?"_ I slurred trying to push back the sleeping pills they had given me earlier from my mind. I shook my head in vain effort to wake up.

"_I overheard the other nurses gossiping in the halls, they said those ninja that came here tonight where here to take you away as soon as dawn breaks." _

"_They all serve a horrible man named Orochimaru. Orochimaru rules over most of the sound village and they say he was once a legendary sannin. He is very fond of taking people from this place and having them experimented on then before sending them back here and locking them in the cells downstairs."_ She grimaced as we rounded a corner and I could hear a very faint banging sound and soft crying.

_"I feel horrible for them, you know, you can hear them sometimes at night; they moan and scream and bang on the doors." _She whispered, this time more nervously.

Though my voice was hoarse and scratchy but I growled angrily.

'**I knew Orochimaru was a bastard before but this is just going too damn far'** I thought while bowing my head in pity for those people locked away in the basement like animals. Yukiko smiled nervously down at me

"_Creepy huh?"_ she whispered in a half-hearted way to lighten the mood.

I nodded grimly, knowing now that my suspicions and fears of Orochimaru being involved where correct. I hesitated to ask but had to know what I was getting into once we stepped outside or someone found us missing.

"_W-Wwhat about the guy before?"_ I asked faintly and grinned at feeling that the drug's effects where fading.

"_The one that was here when you were going into shock was his student" _

She snorted.

_"Or lackey"_ she mumbled to herself as an afterthought.

I had a hard time repressing a giggle from escaping my lips at her calling Sasuke a 'lackey' and what his expression may or may not be if he heard that as we cautiously crept silently down the hall way.

The floor felt ice-cold against my bare feet and soon made my feet feel numb.

**'Yes the drugs are defiantly fading'** I mused as I felt the coldness keeping me numbly awake as Yukiko continued talking and scanning the hallways anxiously.

"_But anyways, they say he is extremely dangerous and he has the strangest kekkei genkai I've ever seen before. His eyes were red with black totomes and he was scary"_ she shuddered remembering the experience.

Alright, now there wasn't a doubt in mind that the guy before was Sasuke Uchiha.

We both shivered as we still glided soundlessly through the maze of hallways and finally out into the lifeless fall garden outside. I knew she wasn't shivering because of the cold.

She walked me a little father into the browning, dead shrubbery until we could see the forest directly in front the courtyard and we stopped in the cover of some shadows. I looked around as I let go of her shoulder and scanned the area for anymore signs of life I couldn't see anything. My ticket to freedom so close yet so far. I shook my head again as something occurred to me

**'This can't be it. It can't really be that easy. I mean for christ's sake I'm in a world of ninjas! How the hell did they did not find us yet? They can't be that stupid!' **I glanced around again for traps or alarms but the place was dead silent save for the wind in the trees and some squirrels rustling in the bushes.

Suddenly a dark shadow landed In the middle of the clearing and made my heart skip a beat. I blinked and sweat dropped as a squirrel jumped right in the middle of the clearing and started running in circles like a dog looking for acorns.

No traps went off, no kunai or a shift from the shadows or anything. I sighed in relief and scratched the back of my head sheepishly.

'**Maybe I give them too much credit.'** I deadpanned as I watched the squirrel spazzing out in the middle of the clearing.

"_Alright you have to go across the courtyard and into the forest going north until you find in maybe by morning or so a small village. But stay off the main roads a lot of bandits and thieves that hideout around there."_ She cautioned.

I turned away from the clearing and saw her staring sadly at me she smiled slowly as she caught me staring back at her. The way she smiled while the moonlight outlining her frame she reminded me so much of my mother that it hurt.

I realized something suddenly.

_"What about you, won't they hurt you if they found out you helped me? Why don't you come with me and get away from this hell hole?"_ I pleaded thinking of the ways Orochimaru's lackeys could and would do to her if anyone found out, especially the Uchiha once he would realize he had been had.

That single thought made me wince.

Oh I knew what he could do alright...

Still smiling she walked closer and ruffed my hair like a little kid

"_You know, you remind me of my little sister so much it almost hurts"_ she smiled dreamily as if lost in thought then she toke something out from her pocket and handed it to me.

I was still shocked speechless at what she said as she slowly closed my fist around it and softly hugged me. She looked down at me briefly.

_"She made it for me a long time ago before..."_ she didn't finish the sentence as her sad glazed eyes bore down into my mine.

"_I-I hope you get home to your family Amanda, wherever they are" _

And with that she let me go and silent walked away into the shadows and out of my life.

I stared after her for a while. I still didn't move as the dry, crisp wind rushed past me from behind as it made an odd whispering sound as swirling autumn leafs of every warm color imaginable rushed past me in a mad dance up towards the golden harvest moon. I turned around watching the wind dance around the moon for a moment.

"_Thank you, Yukiko"_ I whispered, gazing up at the moon feeling cold and alone.

I took a deep breath as I steered my nerves before turning around clutching the gift Yukiko had given me as I ran across the clearing and into the forest as fast as I could. I was halfway to the forest in dead sprint when I felt something brush past me from behind and saw a kunai slice my arm and forcing me to stop and duck to avoid two more that sailed over my head and imbedded themselves in a tree across the clearing.

I gasped in pain as the cut started bleeding rather fast and began a thick, flowing stream of blood down my arm. I clutched me arm to stop the bleeding knowing it was useless.

I stood up and turned around to find two men in identical uniforms walking towards me with more kunai in their hands. Their metal forehead protectors shone in the moonlight with the cursive music note sign carved into place; the metal glistened forebodingly as the stalked towards their injured prey.

_'Sound Ninjas**'**_ I hissed in pain and fear.

**'Damnit I knew it wasn't going to be this easy!'**

They both came at me at once and one managed to put me in a choke hold. I coughed and gasped as he crushed my windpipe.

I then began struggling and biting, clawing, and punching at him with my hands until he held one of the kunai to my throat.

_"Who the hell are you and we are you masking your Chakra!"_ he yelled at me. I coughed again in response as my vision got burly. The other one shrugged his shoulders as he leered down at me

"_It's gotta be a pretty good act, I can't sense anything from her"_

"_Whatever, I'll just slit her…" _

_"Oh come on you did it the last time it my turn now"_ the one that wasn't choking me whined.

_"Then kill her already and stop talking"_ insisted the one that was choking me somewhat grumpily.

My eyes widen in terror '**Kill me? Oh my god NO! Get off, get off, and get off me!"**

The other ninja took out his kunai and sauntered smugly up to me but stopped short when he grabbed my chin and got a good look at me

_"Hey wait a minute isn't this the girl lord Orochimaru wanted us to help Uchiha find?" _

"_It is? How the hell did she get out? You were supposed to be watching her you moron!"_ he snapped at the other ninja.

My vision was fading to black now as they argued relentlessly as I began to feel severely light-headed. I swear I started to see hint and flashes of that swirling color energy, or I'm guessing chakra, fade in and out of my vision. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth knowing full well the pain was coming soon. I could feel it slowly growing brighter even if I closed my eyes.

'**Am I being choked to death here?'**

"_Well how could was I supposed to know she would break the lock and start randomly walking out here, she was a restrained and out cold last time I checked." _

"_Well then don't leave your post next tim… AAHA! That bitch, she burned my skin!" _screamed the one that had me in a death grip as he threw me away from him as his entire arm was turned into boiling flesh that looked like it would peel off the bone at any moment.

He screamed in agony as he clutching his arm and the other ninja gawking in disgust and horror at his comrade's arm.

He glanced back at the girl _"What the hell! Look at that, she glow-!"_

The sound nin didn't finish his sentence as he suddenly went rigid then spun around to get hit in the chest with a barge of oncoming of shuriken.

His blood sprayed everywhere as his bloody body fell next to mine.

I couldn't move, I was crumpled on the ground in agony trying to regain my breath and endure the pain coming from the blinding chakra behind my eyes. Even with my eyes closed I could still see it.

'**Would you look at all that blood...'**

The sound ninja that had just been auguring with his partner jumped away from the oncoming shuriken and began sprinting up the hospital screaming at the other sound ninja on top of the roof to sound the alarm as the flesh from his arm began ripping itself free in the rushing wind as the desperate man scalded the building.

He never got the chance as more shuriken and kunai struck him in his back and effectively severing his spinal cord and a kunai managed to strike the one on the roof in the eye from some vantage point in the trees. They all crumpled silently to the ground dead.

Two shadows emerged from the tree tops as they landed silently on the ground examining without any hint of emotion at the carnage they caused. Their cloaks and hats hid their identities, but the red, swirling clouds on their cloaks spoke volume about who they were better than anyone could.

"Tch, _Orochimaru's guards didn't even much of a fight they just ran away"_ Grumbled Kisame obvious in disappointment.

Itachi ignored Kisame as he walked past the lifeless sound ninja he had killed and knelt next to the girl lying in the dirt, her dirty golden hair sprawled across her face as she panted heavily with her eyes closed in pain. She looked normal by all regards except for the fact that her body was glowing a strange multi-colored glow.

Itachi had his sharingan active as he analyzed the girl before him and his eyebrows rose slightly in surprise before the glow subsided around the girl and her face went blank, peaceful in unconscious bliss. Kisame walked over to where his partner was slugging an unconscious small girl over his shoulder with his bloodline trait active.

"_Kisame, this is the one we were looking for." _Itachi addressed his partner monotonously_ "We will take her back to the base and inform leader."_

Kisame narrowed his eyes at the suspiciously innocent looking girl as he sensed something wrong with her that was extremely strange he couldn't put his finger on it yet. They both turned around when they both sensed other sound ninja running though the trees to find them as well as another very strong energy closing in fast.

"_Fine, let's get out of here before your brother shows up"_ Kisame grunted as he remembered the conversation the dead sound ninja at his feet were having before, as they were choking that girl to death.

"_Hn"_

And with that they disappeared into the trees again with their unconscious captive blissfully unaware of the things that are about to befall her all the while the gift she had received was being stained in dark blood as the pendant on the chain swayed back and forth in the wind ominously.

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Please review, suggestions are welcome!


	7. Chapter 6

Enjoy. If possible I love if anyone would like to be my beta reader for this story?

Chapter 6:

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"_What happened here_?" a stern neutral voice growled out, an angry undertone evident in his voice.

The night was subsiding, the moon hung low in the sky and the twilight lighten the sky as dawn was slowly making itself known to whoever happened to be looking towards the heavens. The twilight was just enough to lighten the hospital's courtyard and expose the brutal, bloody mess of the three previous ambushed sound ninjas.

Inside the center of the clearing stood more uniformed sound ninjas and two differently dressed ninjas facing them. One of the uniformed ninja subordinates stood apart from the rest, in the front he was singled out and clearly being interrogated. His interrogator wore baggy purple clothing, tied silver hair, and glasses that he tilted every so often so they shone forebodingly in the faded dawn light.

Kabuto's face was twisted in a cold, feral smirk as he analyzed the ninja before him. His smirk grew wider when he caught the ninja attempts to hide his trembling as he kept glancing between him and back at the glaring red eyed teenager standing a little ways off from them.

Sasuke glared at the sound chunin with his sharingan activated, despite his stoic expression obvious waves of annoyance and anger were rolling of him and could be seen in his swirling eyes.

"_Well then, I don't think we need to ask you again."_ Kabuto mused as he took a step towards the subordinate ninja before him. The ninja finally turned to Kabuto and began to explain what he had witnessed earlier with a hint of fear in his voice.

"_The girl who we were sent to retrieve escaped last night and had almost made it to the forest until those two caught her."_ He jerked his thumb over at the two corpses that were lying in the clearing, left to rot in the oncoming morning with crows already pecking at their dead flesh.

_"I believe that they started to... interrogating her, but then she did something to one of their arms and then they and the lookout on the roof were ambushed by two enemy ninjas from the woods"_ The look in Kabuto's eyes was burning with curiosity as well as malice as he stepped closer to the cowering ninja.

"_What about the girl?"_ he questioned smoothly.

The sound Nin looked around him for a moment before glancing back to Kabuto nervously, debating on how he worded his answer.

"_They took her with them, alive"_ he added somewhat hesitantly.

Kabuto sighed frustrated, at that pathetic girl being kidnapped from right under their noses, but relieved somewhat at knowing the girl was still alive.

That information just might stale Lord Orochimaru's wrath for a while.

"_What did the ambushers look like? What symbols where on their forehead protectors?"_ he pressed impatiently at the sound chunin in front of him. The chunin ninja was quiet for a moment as he tried to remember anything about the two attackers from before that could save his miserable hide.

"_Um, there were two of them that I could see in the clearing I don't know if there were more in the trees. They made their chakra signatures practically undetectable. And um, their forehead protectors were crossed out so they were missing Nins I think. They had strange uniform cloaks and they were strong, maybe higher than jonin level…"_ he cut his rambling short when he noticed out of the corner of his eye Uchiha straighten up and now was hostile glaring at him.

He took a step back as Sasuke stalked closer to him, his sharingan shining dangerously in the morning light. Quicker than anyone saw the Uchiha suddenly appeared before him and yanked him by his collar into the air a couple feet from the ground.

"_What did the people in the cloaks look like?"_

Kabuto slightly raised his eyebrow questionably at the young Uchihas antics. He was actually mildly surprised he addressed anyone of such a lower rank then him at all.

The sound ninja choked for a minute in fear as he struggled to speak with the Uchiha's grasp around his neck.

"_They were both tall men, one was shorter than the other but they had hats on, I couldn't see their faces!" _

He coughed out while dark blackish and bluish bruises began forming around his neck as Sasuke squeezed harder around his windpipe. Sasuke began rupturing some blood vessels in the subordinate's neck in an attempt to force answers out of the choking man in his grasp.

"_What else?" _

He seethed out through his teeth as his impatience hit the roof and his sharingan spinned lazily around his pupils. The unfortunate choking ninja pleaded again that didn't see anything else and was rewarded with blood slowly creeping down his chin in thick streams.

The others in the clearing did nothing and didn't seem fazed at all by the inhumane cruelty they were witnessing but in their minds they were using this incident to justify just why everyone stayed clear of Uchiha. After this none of them would ever forget to stay clear of the Uchiha's wrath.

Right as Sasuke was sure he was about to snap the man's neck in half the sound chinin chocked out one more thing in desperation.

"_T-they had-d black c-cloaks with red, puffy c-clouds on them, that's all I sw- I swear, sir!"_ he gasped out. He was abruptly dropped harshly to the floor and coughed violently to gain cool autumn air back into his lungs as he cradled his abused neck in his hands. No one moved to help him. Sasuke's normally stoic disposition changed quickly to a horrifying snarl for a moment as realization flashed like lighting from his chidori through his eyes and made his sharingan spin rapidly in his anger filled, wild eyes.

"_Akatsuki"_ he growled under his breath. It was silent all too quickly, as even the sound of dry leaves crunching in the howling wind stopped momentarily. The tense, heavy silence held for a few moments as the information numbly absorbed into their minds. That was until Kabuto's voice broke the thick silence like a knife.

"_Akatsuki, huh? Well then we must inform Lord Orochimaru about this…unexpected development"_

Kabuto mused out loud, overhearing Sasuke.

Broadly, he turned to the remaining sound ninjas and ordered them all to begin heading back to the base, _"Immediately"_ he added.

They nodded and with some picking up their injured comrade they all vanished into the trees of the sound.

Once they were all gone far enough Kabuto turned his gaze towards observing the enraged Uchiha noting Sasuke face was balled up in feral anger at the mention of the organization his brother was currently in. Sasuke thought long and hard on if his brother was in that clearing just hours before, and where his brother was now. The thought made his blood boil.

'**He knew I was here. He finally came out here then ignored me, as if I was still insignificant to him and then just ran off! All just to kidnap some worthless girl?' **

His hands balled into fist at his sides briefly in his internal rage until he managed to regained his normal, stoic composer as they hanged limply at his sides as Kabuto turned to stare at his emotional display.

Well as emotional as a Sasuke would get when his older brother was mentioned around him.

"_Why do they want her?"_ Sasuke bit out, angry but confused as he tried to understand why a highly feared criminal organization would want such a weak and insignificant girl.

Kabuto frowned thoughtfully at the forest edge for a moment in thought.

**'I must admit in all the time I've seen Sasuke here in the sound I've never seen him this emotional before.' **He glanced back at the now stoic Uchiha again watching him in the corner of his eye as he glared at the sky._ '_

**Hm, this isn't too good… If that girl is that important to the Akatsuki for them to barge into Lord Orochimaru's borders and stir trouble just to locate her then I have no doubt that if she is found again Sasuke will find and take her so he could use her as a bargaining chip for a meeting with his brother.'** Kabuto's frown deepened as he realized this would go against Orochimaru's plans and that he had to word his responses on this subject very carefully around the Uchiha before him and his snake-like master if he wanted to keep his own private agenda on schedule.

"_You do realize this girl must be connected or important to the tailed Buji for the Akatsuki too want to find and kidnap her from right under Lord Orochimaru." _

Kabuto mulled in indifferently with some annoyance in his tone as the sun's first rays were hitting his face but stopped rubbing his temples as a cold, hypocritical smirk found its way onto his face. It stayed plastered there as they began leaping through the trees that were burning in the vivid fall colors. If Sasuke noticed he didn't react to it.

"_You didn't have to almost choke the chunin to death you know. You could have just killed him after he told you about the cloaks."_ Kabuto taunted as he chuckled evilly as the imaginary scene of bloodshed clouded his vision while he and Sasuke began running through the trees, back to the snake sanin's underground base.

A speeding kunai suddenly flew at Kabuto's head but he easily dodged it as it missed its mark and hit into the wooden flesh of a tree rather than the flesh of a silver haired head of a very psychopathic ninja.

"_I'll keep that in mind"_

Sasuke spoke monotonously into his ear as he flew past Kabuto at breakneck speed through the forest. Kabuto snarled to himself as he raced after the red eyes of the youngest Uchiha prodigy into the green maze of forest of the sound country.

* * *

Wind.

It was all I felt at the moment that let me know I was still among the living.

All I felt was the dark nothingness that normally comes with unconsciousness I've grown used to and a lovely, rushing, sensation of cold wind being blown gently against my face and tossing my hair in every different direction.

My face was pressed against rough, warm fabric that must have been those old, sweaty hospital sheets I had been confided to the past couple of days.

Wired... I didn't remember falling asleep.

'**So then how am I dreaming?'**

As if in answer to my question the gentle wind suddenly turned harsh and ice-cold against my skin and I realized my body was already numbed from the stinging wind that had and still was rushing past me.

I swear my body felt as if I had been rubbed raw and my bones frozen stiff by the burning cold of the whipping wind around me. My upper arm was where most of the pain was centering from as I realized a liquid had spilt around my shoulder and down my arm to my fingertips had practically froze by itself, causing the most numbing pain then anywhere else.

'**What's going on, why am I freezing to death in a dream?'** I wondered in bewilderment.

'**No, no wait a minute. This isn't right and this isn't the hospital cot. What happened to me before?'**

I strained my mind tying to understand where I was now and remind myself of what happened before.

**'I remembered Yukiko and she was helping me, how was she helping me?'** I puzzled around that for a moment as the pain in my arm and other injuries I had before steadily grew worse, quickly.

Feeling was slowly coming back to me as I could feel the outline of my fingertips. I was thoroughly not enjoying it.

As feeling kept creeping its way back to me I could feel my hand clenched painfully around something.

'**That's it! That's the gift Yukiko gave me after she helped me escape!' **

I couldn't believe what had happened as the whole ordeal came rushing back to me in a flash. She was hovering above me as she helped me get out of those leather straps and locks. We ran soundlessly through the hallways. Me begging her to come but she just smiled and gave her sister's gift to me. The sound ninja caught me and started choking me. Then the multi-colored chakra and the searing, white pain that came with it. I saw so much blood I remember thinking I was dying even though I knew none of it was mine.

'**So then were am I?'** I paled, dreading what I would find and what would happen when I opened my eyes.

After a while feeling came to back to almost my whole body and with every second my body became colder and colder. I could swear if I opened my eyes to look my fingers and toes would be black. My hearing slowly became better as I heard someone suddenly speak directly in front of me. I bit my tongue to keep from gasping in surprise.

"_It's been a while now. How much how longer do you think she will be out for?"_ a deep gruff voice mused practically in my ear.

There was no response from whoever he was addressing until I felt something move underneath me and something sharp began pressing into my stomach. I couldn't hide my surprise as I sucked in a breath in shock as I understood it was someone's bony shoulder I was on top of.

"_She's always awake"_

An emotionless voice replied as their bony shoulder underneath me shifted again and pressed harder into my already bruised stomach forcing a pained hiss through my clenched teeth as I slowly but groggily opened my sore eyes to the blinding mid day sunlight.

I raised my bloody hand and rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes and blinked confused as I saw nothing but a green blur below me. The second thing I noticed was the shoulder I was draped over was covered by a thick black cloak with red puffy designs decorated around it.

'**What are those?'**

I wondered briefly as I glanced up to see around myself and was assaulted by a blue scaled face, beady black eyes, and wide pearly jagged shark like teeth curled together in a smirk. My eyes widened, I froze stiff like an icicle at this strange and scary sight, and even worse I couldn't look away from the beady eyes watching me.

'**Clouds' **I realized in fear.

'**Those are the red clouds from the Akatsuki! That means this is Kisame's ugly mug I'm staring at!**

Fear clenched my chest and made it harder to breathe but I held a straight if not slightly surprised expression plastered on my face. _"Ah, and so she is" _His smirk widen as he sized up my reaction and then it fell in disappointment and a little bit of confusion crept into his face after staring back at me for a few more tense moments.

"_This one doesn't scream when she sees me"_ he mused in bored, disappointed tone as he frowned in agitation at not get a scream from me.

I frowned as well at his behavior.

**'Why did Kisame want me to scream when I saw him? Hmm. Maybe he gets it a lot I would imagine?' **I still stared back at him until the shoulder pressing into my stomach reminded me of the other Akatsuki member I was currently hitching a ride on.

Without bothering to look back to see the glossy, coal-black hair tied into a low ponytail I knew who the red eyes that were currently looking over their shoulder at me belonged too. I could feel both their gazes boring holes into my head. I shivered at the icy coldness that washed over me that had nothing to do with the wind.

No matter what Kisame and Itachi had assumed I was petrified.

I knew I was minutes from screaming my head off, and their ears off, in a sheer panic meltdown.

'**I'm being kidnapped from criminals by criminals for goodness sake! I'm in titled to a meltdown! Why can't I meet one of the good people on this show instead of the ones that would love to spill my guts without a second thought!' **I mentally whined in sheer panic.

Suddenly the wind ceased whipping around us as the two S class ninja came to a complete stop and leapt onto the ground below. I began shivering violently when the wind stopped and reminded me of just how cold I had become in the late autumn weather.

I was then roughly deposited onto the dirt road as Itachi quickly shrugging me off his shoulder making me lose my balance and fall face first into the dirt. I yelped in pain as my bloodied arm and then the rest of my bandaged body connected with the hard dirt path. I could feel the wound open again as fresh blood came down the wound on my arm and started dripping down my hand again.

Still shaking and holding my now bleeding arm close to my chest I sat myself up and tried my best to ignore the glares of the two ninja as they did nothing and watched me try to pick myself off the ground.

'**Bloody jerks!' **I fumed to myself.

I didn't want to look at them anymore. I was afraid Itachi might have his sharingan activated to knock me out or something and staring at Kisame's fish like eyes would only make my stomach flip.

"_Should we knock her out again or something?"_ Kisame questioned as he shifted the massive sword on his back slightly while he glanced at his partner.

'**Ding, Ding, Ding we have a winner! **

Itachi said nothing as he stepped towards me and stopped when he was practically hovering over me.

He roughly grabbed my arm and to my surprise tossed me up from the floor like a limp rag doll, which slightly terrified me.

I was small but I wasn't that small.

I couldn't stifle another yelp of surprise and pain as Itachi hoisted me up into the air by my bleeding arm, my feet leaving the ground for an instant when he used to much force to get me to stand on my numbed feet.

I was shocked to say the lest and had to resist every urge in my body just to just peak at him as I bowed my head and squeezed my eyes shut; knowing he wanted me to stare into his sharingan. I was curious to see the infamous Itachi Uchiha in the flesh and blood but I knew better than to listen to my inner teenage hormones pleading with me for just a quick peak.

Itachi grabbed the short teenager girl before him by her chin as he tilted her head past her windblown hair so she could look into his sharingan and fall under his genjutsu. He frowned when she closed her eyes tightly in refusal to look at him.

His eyes narrowed when he realized she must have known about his Kekki Genki.

He tightened his grip on her jaw in trying to force her to look at him.

"_Open your eyes"_ he commanded in a smooth, neutral voice.

'**Like hell I will!'** I mentally snarled.

The girl clenched her teeth in response and shook her head in weak defiance in his grasp. He glared at her and increased the pressure on her face until she whimpered in pain as her whole face throbbed and Amanda was sure her jaw was about to shatter in his grip.

"_Now"_ he warned, his sharingan spinning faster in anger around his pupils.

He watched impassively as the girl ignored his command as she began wriggled frantically in pain in his grasp. He turned away from her as he nodded to Kisame who in turn grinned sinisterly while he swung his sword down from his back and made the earth crack where it had fallen.

Kisame's grin grew when he spotted the girl shudder at the noise and could practically taste the waves of fear rolling of her through his sword. Samehada was quivering bloodthirstily in hunger from the raw fear it scented in the air.

I heard Kisame swing his heavy sword down on the ground and walk toward me. I froze stiff in fear again as Samehada was held against the shoulder blades in my back and the jaggedly sharp shark skin tore through my clothes and bandages as it ripped at my skin. When I tried jumping away in shock it moved hungrily against my flesh, but Itachi held me there. I winced and hissed as I felt something burning in my back. I briefly saw the colored chakra that seemed to show up whenever I was in trouble pass in my vision and began to churn violently.

Suddenly pain exploded in my back and my head.

"_AAHHGGG!"_

I screamed in pain as I felt something tear my back open and my blood flew from my back and into the air like water guns. The invisible force gave a violent push against me and Kisame's sword. It pushed so hard that the force knocked Itachi and Kisame backwards a couple feet and threw me out of Itachi's jaw breaking grip and flung me high across the road.

I knew I was in trouble when I saw the cerulean sky above me and felt the weightless of a bird in the breeze for a split second before I came crashing downwards and collided with the giant oak tree standing across the road.

_**'BAM!'**_

The sound my body made slamming into the old oak was a horrible hollow, cracking noise.

Fire like I had never felt before clouded my mind and body in some pain frenzied inferno from hell and left me windless. Hot blood poured down my back in increasing flow without missing a heartbeat and staining a dark crimson streak down the great oak as I slid slowly down the rough, splintered wood and onto the already blood stained dirt road.

I did nothing as the rainbow-colored Chakra from hell also clouded my vision and blinded me in slow agonizing torture for untold minutes before disappearing completely and leaving sweet, cool, unconsciousness with her open arms to swallow me up again in her blissful, inky blackness.

* * *

The two Akatsuki members landed perfectly on their feet after the invisible force had pushed them and the girl away from each other. Kisame grunted as he picked up his Samehada from where it was thrown a couple yards away and turned to his partner with an angry expression.

"_Where did that brat go, I'll cut her into little pieces!"_ he seethed as he finally spotted her lying across the road, unconscious yet again.

Itachi was hovering over the girl as he stared impassively at the wide crimson streaks that stain the oak tree before him and the grass the girl was lying on. As he heard his partner thundered over to the still bleeding girl, Itachi turned his head slightly in Kisame's direction. Kismae growled as he lifted the limp girl by her hair and briefly examined the wound on her back.

"_She's not going to last very long like this_" Kisame mused as the girl's head rolled from side to side limply and he dropped her ungracefully to the ground in annoyance.

"_Inform leader that we will be there by morning"_ itachi's cold voice spoke cryptically to kisame as he produced some gauze and other medical equipment from his sleeves. As kisame huffed crossly he made a hand sign and closed his eyes in concentration to inform their leader of their soon to be arrival while Itachi worked on their captive as he stopped the increasing blood flow to her back and began bandaging the very pale looking girl.

"_No more stopping, I take it if we want to reach the base by morning?"_ kisame questioned the stoic Uchiha as Itachi switched the girl from his shoulders to carrying her in his arms instead not wanting to further upset her injuries any more then necessary.

"_Hn"_

Kisame glanced at his partner's load with the annoyance clear as day on his features as he rationalized it was the girl's fault that they wouldn't be able to stop and rest anymore till they reached the base. One Akatsuki member grumbling his annoyance while the other staying silent and carrying his burden leaped into the trees at full speed towards the secret base without stopping till the nearly undetectable morning dawn rose in the always pouring heavens of the rain country, Amegakure.

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Uh-oh! Amanda has the half the bad guys out for her blood already? Both the stoic Uchiha's are mad at her already? But she hasn't even meet the other one! AH, too many plot holes!

Oh well. -_-

Reviews are nice though! there very nice! be nice today! :D


	8. Chapter 7

_Hey all, thanks for the reviews their very much appreciated! I also like to thank the people who tough have not reviewed they have taken an interest in this story. It makes me happy!_

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Chapter: 7

Darkness

So much darkness that I couldn't tell wheatear I was still sleeping, awake, or alive for the matter. The only thing that kept me from thinking I was still dreaming was the damp, cold, stone floor underneath me and the steady thrum of rain drizzling somewhere close by. The darkness was solid like thick walls of conceit and suffocating me all sides in quiet stillness. I felt the hairs on my arms stand straight up as cold drafts began lapping at my skin from cracks in the ground and made every part of my body feel covered in frost. I sat there for a minute, well, wherever there was; numbly fighting off the cold so I could try to think somewhat in my yet again hazy brain. I curled more into the fetal position I had woken up in as the first thought broke clear of the heavy fog swirling around in my brain.

'**I'm wet? Why am I wet?' **

I wondered confused for a moment and then groaned as I realized this was one of many random thoughts that popped into my head when I couldn't think straight. In short my mind began going a mile a minute through the mental mist surrounding my brain as I sat on that cold, damp floor, confused by my surroundings. I huffed and tried disconnecting my mental ramblings when I remembered none of these trains of thought were helping me with my current predicament. I moved to shake my head to focus but the moment I titled my head in any direction I felt a shooting current of pain jolt down my spine and warp around my back like a red hot fiery hand. It used every ounce of my will power I had left not to scream, knowing if I started I wouldn't stop, as the wild fire of pain raging just under the bruised flesh of my back flared. It did the trick though and I cracked open my eyes as all my mental arguing ceased once the pain in my body made me became completely aware of everything around me. The first thing I saw as I looked down at myself was that I was indeed wet, but also bound by thick coils of rope that had been warped tightly around my wrists and ankles, they were already cutting into my already tender and slightly bleeding appendages, no thanks to the hospital bounds I had been in before. Suddenly I could begin to make out muddled conversation floating around in the air above my head and voices that seemed to grow louder with every second.

"Is this really the source, uh? We abandoned our mission for this? It's just a useless girl, uhh!"

"Be cautious you foolish brat, appearances can be deceiving."

"Perhaps if she not dead or useful then perhaps we can sell her. Hmm, I wonder if the brothels would buy this one."

Hesitantly I looked upwards, afraid of what, or more likely who I would find and I almost felt my heart stop beating. As my weak gaze drifted upwards it met nine others. The different colored eyes and their intense gazes held emotions I could read openly as they ranged from confusion, to annoyance, to boredom; but they all were burning holes into my head all the same. I shivered this time not from the cold but from knowing they had been silently watching me in the shadows the whole time. Well more like openly glaring I would say. I was silent and didn't move in inch even when the voices began intensifying around the open space of the room again.

"_She's awake"_ a deep, passive voice seemed to turn sinisterly clear from the tangle of different male voices, as it echoed around the room.

"_It's alive"_ someone sneered from the gloom as they corrected the other. I went stiff as I recognized Zetsu's and Kisame's voices. Suddenly the silence resumed quickly at the sound of a throat being cleared as a hard, commanding, and somewhat monotonous voice echoed around the concrete walls, making my ears start painfully ringing.

"_What are you?"_

'**Pain!'**

Pain's question echoed across the room and the inside of my skull, his voice didn't need to be any louder for me to feel the power and deadliness behind it. I shifted my gaze to stare at him or more so his eyes and he watched me glaring consider his question with the powerful ringed Rinnegen boring down on me as he waited impatiently for my answer. Feeling shocked to the point of muteness and knowing he wanted answers now, I hastily pushed past the lump of pain that had stuck in my airway and managed to speak through my burning, raw throat.

"_H Human?"_ I half confirmed half asked, baffled by his seemingly stupid question. I heard sniggers erupt from certain people in the shadows and I didn't even have to take a guess at who they were.

'**Well, what did he want me to bloody say! I'm a figment of all your imaginations or a spirit you can tie down with rope? Ha! I only wish it was that simple.'** I thought bitterly. The look on Pain's face suggested he was calmly debating the best way to throttle me where I sat for my apparently stupid statement. He then chose to dismiss the answer I had given him and moved on to another question.

"_State who you are, your position and your country"_

'**man, pain is seriously asking stupid questions today' **He paused for a moment and added in emotionless but bone chilling voice_ "lying well only bring you punishment"_ he finalized that statement by throwing me a gut clenching glare.

Shivering I avoided his disturbing, glaring eyes as I composed myself before I could have a total panic meltdown **'Oh gosh if I thought he was creepy before this takes on a new meaning!'** again ignoring the pain that had slowly begun to increase around my back, I tried not to move to much from my sitting position on the floor as I quickly shuddered out my still confused responses through my pain clenched teeth.

"_M-My country is not p-part of any of the known geography around h-here, I have no formal position in anything around or n-near h-h-here"_ I winced when I moved my back slightly in trying to emphasize to my remarks and I took a deep breath to stop the stutter I had started as I continue _"In short I am a wandering nomad from far off in the world"_ I concluded without flinching or stuttering as I looked up to pain's never wavering gaze, feeling proud for a moment.

Whatever the Akatsuki were expecting it was not my response because almost immediately after my little speech shouts erupted all over the room from the angry and confused members, their venting was either directed at me or at their leader. I ignored them all as their stream of shouts echoed and bounced off the cavern walls and making me feel as if their screaming were splitting my head open with multiple sludge hammers and ringing a grand church bell next to my ear. I groaned in pain and clutched my head in my hands, bunching fistfuls of hair in sheer desperation, and closing my eyes as the noise began was becoming too much.

"_She's totally lying, yea! Do you think were stupid girl, Uh?"_

"_I don't believe she's lying._ **Whatever, will everybody let me eat her when were done?**"

"_How can your country not be on any map!"_

"_She's a lying bitch let me kill her!" _

I glared at all of the ones who had spoken_** '**_**Oh, how I want to tell the damn Barbie terrorist to blow himself sky-high, the Siamese plant freaks can light themselves on fire, Fish fingers can turn into sushi for all I care, and that psychotic religious bigot can burn in hell!' **I mentally lashed out in my thoughts in desperate attempts to ignore the blinding pain that was consuming me for as long as I could. I didn't want a repeat of the strange chakra incidents that seemed to show up randomly now when things get too hectic for me to handle.

'**Yea we don't want another repeat of the incident with fish and weasel over there'** I remembered frowning as my brow creased as I attempted to clam myself and my expression turned grim. I had a sneaking suspicion that the less anyone knew about it the better, especially if it made my weak self look like a threat to the Akatsuki!

'**Good lord, I'm going to be road kill in seconds! Then they would probably do something horrible to my corpse, like give it to Zetsu.' **My mind wailed and I shuddered in fear as images of the cannibal ripping apart my body for his next meal played out in my head like some old, gory zombie film.

The rest of the level headed members said nothing and never gave away their stoic demeanors as their gazes shifted from their leader to the other members to me and back again in that cycle, wondering what was going on with their suddenly too quiet leader and what he thinking. As the shouts grew louder I heard the sound of wind rushing as if something moved too fast for me to comprehend and then a loud boom suddenly sounded everywhere and all at once I was thrown backwards from the force of the miniature explosion and dust flew and clouded my vision in the blink of an eye. Once it had settled I realized I was on my back and every nerve in my body felt as if it were connected to live wires as every one of my cells screamed in never ending pain. Everyone was silenced once again, I grunted and biting my now cracked and burning lips I slowly sat up, hissing as I felt warm familiar liquid began dribbling down my back as the wound I recently received. I had forgotten about it now until it opened back up again as a fresh wound marred the old scabbing open I had tore open.

'**That's gonna leave a BIG bruise'** I mused as I titled my head upward and again met the full glare of the Rinnegen head on, though this time not purposely. He had me trapped staring at his purple grayish, ringed eyes again and I couldn't turn away this time. It was as if there was an invisible hand holding my face there and I couldn't break its grasp no matter how much I struggled; witch wasn't a lot mind you due to my back screaming at me to just be still for five more minutes.

"_State your clan and if any abilities you have"_ Pain requested simply, as his gaze began burning holes into my eye sockets.

'**Yea right, more like he was demanding one'** I winced again and coughed heavily as pain tore now at my lungs and I tried to hide my alarm as warm liquid began dribbling out of my mouth and down the corners of my lips; rubbing the dripping liquid from my mouth I swallowed the rest of the hot, strange tasting liquid down as I made an effort to clear my mouth so I could answer him.

'**I hope that was just saliva' **even as I prayed vainly for this small, seemingly insignificant miracle I began getting very dizzy and swaying from side to side as the world tilted violently around me. Even though I knew I was sitting and right there I knew I was only fooling myself.

"_I don't belong to a clan… I don't belong to a village… I don't have a Bloodline limit" _I confessed weakly as I began swaying side to side more intensely. Their colorful eyes began spinning around me, some bloodthirsty, some confused, most were interested, but mostly darkly annoyed as they all filtered into my head and those shadows they still peered out from began creeping into my vision. Their outlines began fading until only the many pairs of colored eyes and blackness remained swimming in my head. I don't know where or when I found the strength to stand as I continued my rant to oblivion but I knew inwardly it was not helping. _"I-I am n-not an N-ninja!"_ I hissed suddenly angry at the Rinnegin floated eerily in the perpetual darkness surrounding my sight. Suddenly the Rinnegin appeared directly in front of me and I immediately felt immense pressure on my neck and my feet leave the ground; it felt as if I were being dangled like a shiny, new toy in midair by a child at Christmas.

"_Unmask your Chakra or face brutal death, Kunoichi." _He warned as he tightened his grip on my neck. I hissed and spat at him. My vision clouded over red for a moment as I realized he didn't believe me

"_What part of I'm not a ninja, don't you people get!"_ my head hit the hard, stone floor and I whimpered in pain.

'**Heh, heh, Pain causing pain' **I mused as the colorful mist swirled into my vision and around the Rinnegen.

Pain then slammed his foot hard down on my ribcage, not enough to kill me but still causing a series of satisfying cracks to echo off the walls. To almost everyone's surprise I didn't scream, I didn't flinch, I didn't cry I just started laughing softly to myself instead. Pain looked down at me, slightly disturbed, as my soft laughing slowly becoming muddled as I became disoriented and I could feel the hot, metallic bile began rushing up from my chest and poured out of my mouth. As I began choking on it I felt pain lift his foot off my chest and kick me so I rolled uselessly on my side so I could breathe.

"_Enough of your lies now unmask your chakra; I won't tell you again_." He growled as he picked me up again. A peril of horrible, dry, laughter escaped my raw and burning throat and I grinned as the mist began numbing my pain to a scary degree, and my mind drew up a blank **'I need to use the only thing that can save my sorry ass now'. **

"_I'm s-sorry, I-I c-cant"_ I choked out an apology. Everything went still for a second as Pain's grasp slackened and the well hidden confused underlined his last question.

"_Why?"_ he snarled, finally cracking.

He knew this girl had pushed his temper of the edge as he lost his indifferently and cool attitude in front of his subordinates as he had to pause a moment as he stop himself from snapping her neck like a dry twig. Everyone and thing was silent and anxious, as if the world had stopped breathing and were waiting on their heels for the last puzzle piece of the mystery of this strange girl to fall into place with her answer.

'**The truth sets you free' **I realized as I remembered the old saying hummed among other soothing melodies my mother used to sing in my ear at night to ease my nightmares.

"_Because, I don't have any Chakra"_ I whispered quietly, still not believing my ears as the totally insane sentence left my own mouth. Grudgingly I somehow mentally corrected myself as I felt the cavern's crushing darkness finally closing in on me. It me feel like some demented demon pouncing on the hapless pray that it had chased into a corner, me.

'**Insane sentence, no, more like a death sentence' **I admitted to myself as I lost consciousness; now fully prepared to escape this horrendous nightmare in sleep, and wanting to never wake up again.

* * *

A pin could be dropped and would probably echo for miles in the extremely uncomfortable silence that seemed to swell in the quietness of one of the many unimportant rooms used for interrogation within the Akatsuki's rain country base. The perpetual silence was disturbed by a dull thunk echoing off the walls when Pain released the girl from his grasp and her body collapsed ungracefully to the ground as she passed out from pain. Every akatsuki member had tensed rather quickly when their leader's interrogation with the teenager had started turning violent, all of them expecting her to drop the charade and attack or at least defend herself against Pain; never minding that she didn't stand a chance. Surprisingly she had done neither and when pain's foot had come down on her chest it cracked and broke many of her ribs. But she had done the complete opposite of what a normal person's response to torture was. Instead of screaming or begging like everyone expected she would do, she had started laughing softly to herself. The extent of how internally damaged she was became painfully obvious as blood ran down her mouth and scalp, covering her left eye. Pain kicked her slightly to make sure she wasn't feigning unconsciousness and a noticed a wide gash on her back that seemed to have opened on top of an old wound that had now been ruptured as well.

"_Kisame, you mentioned there was an incident on your way back to the base"_ Pain spoke monotonously again as he turned the glare at Kisame while his clone standing on the ground disappeared with a hand sign and a puff of smoke.

"Explain" he demanded icily.

Kisame's shadow shifted slightly as his leaders angry gaze fell on him. _"The girl had woken up halfway to the base. Itachi and I tried knocking her out but she seemed to recognize our faces immediately."_ He paused in his report as he remembered an interesting detail that had slipped his mind earlier in the morning scuffle. _"She was also aware of Itachi's __sharingan before she_ _even saw his face and she __refused to look fall into his jutsu. I was forced to use Samehada to suck chakra from her system so she would faint again until we reached the base."_ Again another pause as kismae debated over his next choice of words very carefully, but upon seeing how Pain's temper was flaming he hastily continued. _"After a minute Samehada had started acting weird and then it went wild when it began feasting on some kind of extremely powerful chakra. It was strong enough to almost rival a jinchuriki" _Many members shifted their gazes during kisame's report back over to the prone girl lying collapsed on the floor in puzzlement and bewilderment_. "But it wasn't connected normally to an internal network but more like clinging like a leech all around the brat_." He paused again as he turned to his partner, hoping he could finish for him. Itachi remained unfazed and made no indication of caring for his partner's discomfort. _"I don't understand it myself leader-sama but the leeching chakra just suddenly seemed to shift and have a will of its own. It got violent and repelled Samehada, it threw my sword and the brat in opposite directions like a couple of toys"_ He snarled his last words, too angry to continue as he glared down at the sleeping girl, wishing she would disappear. Pain not noticing Kisame's darkening expression, or simply not even acknowledging it, turned to the quietly clam clan murderer beside the seething shark Nin .

"_Anything else to report Itachi?" _pain drawled out.

Itachi's shadow flickered slightly as the ex leaf ninja's smooth, unemotional answer rang out unexpectedly_ "She has used this chakra before. When abducting her from the sound country's borders she fatally injured sound ninjas that were threatening her."_ The stoic uchiha opened his eyes slowly, as if bored by the topic at hand, to revile his active sharingan as he returned his leader's steady gaze. _"She was not aware or in control during these incidents; just as Kisame mentioned earlier the Chakra acted of its own defense" he concluded. _Everyone was now sorely confused or surprised; from either the strange apparently chakra-less teenager in front of them, or the fact that the ice cube Itachi Uchiha spoke more than a couple sentences at once. Pain turned away from the Uchiha that had managed to flabbergast hardened criminals by just talking and paused as he glanced sideways over to his orange eyed partner who had remained quiet and stoic through the whole ordeal. He received nothing but the slight, disappointed shake of a head. Pain almost signed out loud and closed his eyes for a brief moment until he directed his glare to stare back at annoyed red eyes and green pupils to his left.

"_Kakuzu"_ the ex waterfall Nin straighten up, but the annoyance was still prevalent in his strangely colored eyes as Pain addressed him.

"_Heal the child of her injuries than take her to the prison cells below the base."_ After he instructed Kakuzu Pain turned to the rest of the members, adding one more thing to his commands now that he had successfully commandeered his subordinate's attention by raising his voice and glaring at them all as a whole.

"_This girl will not be harmed further; she is now valuable to this organization." _He paused

"_Make sure she doesn't die."_ With a flourish of his wrist he created a series of hand sign and he and Konan disappeared,

"_Dismissed"_

Kakuzu grumbled something unintelligible after Pain disappeared as he jumped down from the demon statue's finger. He landed silently next to the girl that was faced away from him on her side. Kakuzu looked down noticing he just narrowly missed stepping in a growing puddle of dark crimson blood that had been steady pouring from the girl's back. He narrowed his eyes in more annoyance as he crouched down and slung the girl harshly over his shoulder, making sure to avoid her broken ribs and began walking down the hallway to the prison cells within the basement.

"_Oi! Kakuzu what about our damn mission_!" Hidan yelled as he jumped down from his numbered perch atop of another one of the demon statue's fingers_. _

"_It's been put on hold, moron!"_ kakuzu twisted around as he shouted back to his partner. The girl on his shoulder began coughing violently when a hard shoulder shoved itself deep in her chest. Kakuzu paused for a moment as he listened to his Hidan's heavy footsteps in his strides to keep up with him echoing across the hallway and heard the girl's shallow, slow gasps as felt her body tense in pain. Forcing a pulse of soft green glow of healing chakra down the girl's spine, he began checking for paralysis and collapsed lungs as he tried to avoid the strange energy he felt intervening with the natural blood flow around her main injuries. After another minute he felt her go limp again. Hidan suddenly appeared beside him and leered down at the girl while lazily swinging his scythe back and forth as he conjured up all sorts of ways he could sacrifice the bitch. He growled sourly to himself as he increased his pace as he continued walking down the shadowed hallway towards the dungeons. Kakuzu turned his head slightly as he addressed hidan, his green, red eyes showing the anger that he was about to lash out on.

"_Bastard get lost, I have work to do"_

* * *

_Can someone tell me if their too OC? Thank u for reading or ur reviews! _


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter: 8 NW**

**Hi everybody, sorry it's taken so long to update with school around the corner and what not. Btw can someone tell me if the characters are too OC. Also someone comment if I should change the rating to M, though I am going to make the chapters a little lighter. Anyways, here's the next chapter Reviews and comments are greatly appreciated!**

* * *

I was awake. I was awake, and it sucked.

The silence within the large, clammy cell was deafening, the shadows swept up the room in perpetual darkness and the cell reeked of the foul odor of rotted bones lying around the ground. The coppery smell of fresh blood wafted into the stagnate air; freshly anew as it stained the white hospital gown of the still intact figure, lying motionless on the smooth, conceit floor. The cell's newest occupant lay on the floor, bloody and bruised, but not broken by any means of the word; twisting and tossing as in her unconscious she tried in vain to escape for a few more moments to this new, grim, and deadly reality she had been thrust into so violently. The peace didn't last long when something gave Amanda a very rude awaking. Still on some godforsaken floor I kept drifting in and out of consciousness only to become fully awaken when I felt a peculiar sensation on my fingers. I recognized the wet sensation on my fingers as I remembered about my home and my annoying dog, chewy. Remembering how impatient this little demon is I knew he just probably wanted to be let outside. I could still feel him licking and nibbling at my hand in his attempts at waking me. Halfway awake I knew he would begin to bark that annoying yipping sound if I ignored him for too long; so annoyed and groggy I cracked my eyes open and opened my mouth halfway, ready to shout at my dog to take a hike when I realized something odd about the scene before me. My dog's fur was white not grey, and he was a lot smaller than this thing biting my fingers. Frowning I opened my eyes completely and blinked a couple times as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I felt my stomach flip as I met the gaze of a pair of red, beady little eyes glaring back at me hungry. My eyes widen in revulsion as I took in the sight of the extremely oversized rat that was sitting atop my forearm and lapping at the dried, crusted, blood that was dribbling down a nasty cut from my shoulder and still dripping from my fingertips that the rat was currently nibbling on.

"**The Hell!"** I yelled as I shot up into a standing position and began waving my arms in the air like a mad person, trying desperately to get rid of the rat. The rat hissed in surprise at my outburst and then bit into my wrist and dug its claws into my arm as it hung on for dear life. With an angry shout I flung the rat off my arm and with the last of my strength threw it at the wall. The rodent hit the wall with a loud thud and squeaked angrily in my direction before flipping its disgustingly pink fleshy tail at me as it disappeared into the shadows. I growled and then grimaced at the pain that shot up my still sore body and now my bleeding wrist. Breathing hard I slumped against the nearest wall, the gears in my head began turning as I took in the prison before me. _"They didn't kill me"_ I whispered as I stared wide eyed at the rotted bones of what was left of their former prisoners remains that dotted the room and peaked out from the curtains of shadows that draped the room. I felt queasy all the sudden as I spotted another rat chewing on a practically sickly yellow bone a few yards away. I grimaced again **'Guess I'm lucky'.** I threw my hands over my ears as I tried desperately to ignore the crunching sounds and happy squeaks as the rats finished their meal, the memories of meeting the infamous Akatsuki swam back up to my mind. Surprised, I went over the way I had held in front of a room full of harden criminals and the very bold statements I practically yelled in their faces. **"They won't have believed me, hell, they definitely wouldn't have let me live unless Pain wanted me alive for some reason"** I concluded to myself as my hand balled into fists at my sides. I suddenly winced at the soreness emitting from my chest. I gasped as a sudden memory of seeing pein's foot slam down, without mercy on my chest. I groaned and clutched my chest as the sound of ribs cracking echoed hauntingly in my ears. Tenderly I felt around myself and sighed when I found nothing broken or bleeding, just sore. Tentatively I peeled away the ripped, bloody hospital gown and threw it over my head, shivering as the cold damp air assaulted my skin and made goose bumps rise on my flesh. As my eyes finished adjusting to the darkness I could make out various blackish bruises along my sides and ribs, the biggest one by far was planted straight onto the middle of my chest; that was oddly enough shaped like a boot print.

"_Benevolent, fair god my ass!"_I hissed like a cat. My eyes screwed in pain as I accidently pressed my palm against the huge mark. I let out a few more choice swear words as I reached for the only scrap of clothing I had to my name; I stopped halfway reaching as I felt my back twist in an odd sort of way.

"_Huh?"_I frowned for the millionth time as I carefully reached behind my neck and brushed my tangled, bloody hair over my shoulders, letting it fall like a curtain over my cold, bare body. Ignoring the strange way my bare back seemed to crinkle as I moved I reached behind myself with both hands. My breath stuck in my throat as my hands ghosted over the horribly rough, gritty, slightly raised indention that ran down my lower back in a crocked line down my shoulder blades and down the whole of my back. **"What the heck is this?" **I moaned as understanding lit up my face after a moment while my hand continued to caress the otherwise smooth flesh of my back.

"_Scar" _

I choked out in disbelief as I felt tears prick the back of my eyeballs. **'Bloody big one at that'** I mentally calculated. I huffed as more memories assaulted my mind, the first involving the first time I met Kisame and Itachi. My stomach flipped again as the feeling of kisame's Samehada pressed up against my back, ripping into my skin; the distinct painful flash of light and then the feeling of something ripping through my back; the feeling of pain's foot crushing into my ribs and grinding my chest to a bloody, broken pulp. Ignoring the painful memories I hugged my legs to my aching chest and burying my face in between my knees as I curled into fetal position. _"This isn't happening, this is nuts"_ I groaned as I began hitting my head against my knees. I stopped after a while and stayed in that position for god knows how long after that left wondering what was going to happen to me next. I didn't know if minutes or hours had passed until the sound of a large heavy door being pushed aside echoed around the walls and the noise granted against the quietness of the cell and my eardrums. Quickly snapping out of my half hearted doze as I heard footsteps approaching I leaned myself against the wall and attempted to stand, not wanting to be caught showing weakness by sitting curled up in a ball and be viewed as a sniveling and pathetic little mess on the floor. Halfway standing I realized something was wrong as I felt for my numb legs to stand on I found they were bare. Looking down I realized what my problem was a little too late.

'**My Clothes!'**

I mentally shrieked in panic as I began spinning around in circles trying to peer into the inky darkness to find the clothes I had thrown off in my moment of stupidity. Suddenly my foot slid out from under me as my heel connected with a jutted bone lying harmlessly on the ground. I yelped as I fell face first into the ground with a loud and heavy thudding sound. I grunted, ignoring the pain in my nose I lifted myself up from the floor as I heard distantly the footsteps increase in pace until they stopped just outside the metal door of my prison. In a the last ditch effort my panic mind came up with I ditched any and all dignity and pride I had left and dropped to the ground into my previous fetal position; throwing my arms around myself and letting my long hair fall around me in my last ridiculous effort to shield my bare self. A creaking sound echoed around the room as the door was pushed roughly aside. Light suddenly poured into the dark cell and burned my eyes as I ducked my face under my arms and groaned as the too bright light began intensify my pounding headache.

"_What the hell is going on in here, uh?" _braving the light I peeked out from over my arms at the figure outlined by the light behind them and I saw a shock of blond hair held high in a ponytail and a single bright blue eye staring back at me annoyed. Deidara sauntered into the room a scowl plastered onto his face as he walked in my direction; guess the darkness didn't hinder his sight. His shoes stopped directly next to my limited vision of the floor; through my arms I could see his toenails were painted a deep black. **'So that's the color they use?**_' _I deadpanned**'Whatever, a grown guy wearing nail polish still screams creeper in my book!**'I mentally laughed to ease the terror in my gut, if I wasn't so terrified I would be chuckling. Suddenly I was reminded of the long, high ponytail crowning from Diedara's head; I mentally chuckled again. **'The hair doesn't help him either' **I could feel the cheser cat like grin worming itself way onto my face.

I was so lost in my insanely random thoughts that I forget for a moment despite how girly they looked just whose feet I was starting at; that is until he yanked me up by the knotted roots of my hair._ "Answer me girl, or I'll… what the hell?" _he cried the last bit of his sentence in shock as I yelled when he dropped me back onto the hard, unforgiving ground. Clutching myself in a futile attempt to cover my nakedness I hissed up at his shocked or surprised expression. Wow, whatever he was expecting it wasn't that. Crouched on the ground I tried my best to give him the dirtiest, deadliest look I could possibly at the moment, with the blood rushing up to my cheeks so fast and my heartbeat pounding against my skull, I was all too sure my head would explode from sheer embarrassment. Or angry, either one would do. **'I do give myself credit though, I managed to shut up bomber faster than I had ever seen Sasori ever do in the anime; and in the first few minutes since I've even met the flabbergasted Barbie no less, Hazza!' **Deidara groaned as he put a hand to his forehead and comically let it slide down his face and slip off his now confused features. _"Didn't Kakuzu give you clothes or something when he patched you up?" _he mumbled more to himself then me. Even with my bright, cherry red, face and my embarrassment burning my face worse than a thousand suns I still managed to snap my head up in response and let my eyes widen as something clicked into place in my brain. **'Kakuzu?'** I wondered as images of the Christmas eyed zombie ninja floated around my brain**. 'Kakuzu healed me? Hhhmm, guess that makes sense I was in pretty bad shape before. **I nodded once as I confirmed my own logic stopping only when something else clinked again slowly in my mind.** Ok, wait, but then what did the big baby of a Blondie over there mean by Kakuzu "giving me clothes"?' **Lost again in my disturbing thoughts I didn't notice the hand reaching for me until I felt a warm, slimy feeling licking my bare shoulder where the open cut had begun to bleed slightly once again. Suddenly sharp teeth accompanied the rough tongue and brought my attention back from beyond as they bit down on top of the cut that had bled from my shoulder. Instantly thinking about the flesh eating rats I yelped as I jumped slightly and spun around to bite the offending creature perched on my burning shoulder and thrash around to get away from it as fast as I could. Instead of aggressive squeaks I was rewarded with a low grunt of pain as my foot connected with what I had second hoped for instead of a rat was Deidara's stomach. I snapped my head up just in time to see the terrorist bomber clutching his manly parts and then tossing his head back in fury to glare with daggers or in this case kunai at me. His face was twisted in pain and fury shown in his sparkling cerulean eye as I'm sure I saw plans for how to make me explode from the inside out began swimming through his vision.

'**Oh man I'm DEAD!' **

I tried jumping up and escaping only to fall back onto my knees again; … yea, fat chance that will happen. Quicker than I could blink I was thrown across the room and being crushed under an immense amount of warm pressure that threatened to crack my still throbbing ribs. My breath came in short gasps as pain flooded my chest once more. I felt Deidara lean in closer to me, until our faces were inches apart, his breath fanned over my face as he caught the wind that I had knocked out of him previously; his breath smelled eerily like earthy clay and peppermints. I closed my eyes in fear as he glared down at me, afraid of what he was going to do_. "Do anything like that again brat and I'll drag you out there your hair" _he hissed before he started squeezing my face to the point of pain and then abruptly leaned into my ear; his warm breath on my neck made me shudder and watch warily as his blue eye twinkling menacing,

"_Naked"_ he finished with a wolfish grin.

I bit my tongue while I swallowed my pained and terrified whimpers as I tried to keep my horror at bay at the images now spinning before my eyes. After a quiet, tense moment the uncomfortable pressure that had been keeping me upright against the wall suddenly vanished as Deidara stepped away. Of course me being me lost my footing at my unexpected release and I gasped as I fell head forward and then hissed at the cracking noise that sounded as my face smacked into Deidara's rock hard chest. Pain blinded my vision and stabbed at my brain like a white hot iron as I reeled back, quite hard into the wall, clutching my bleeding nose in agony. I slid to the ground and fell onto my hands and knees while still clutching my nose in one hand. I could hear the odd splashing sounds as hot blood leaked through my icy hand and splattered onto the ground below. I heard a distant sigh from above me and then the sound of cloth rustling as something warm was thrown over my naked figure. After a moment under the warm, heavy blanket my nose bleed stopped enough for me to deem it alright and as soon as I was sure I didn't have to worry anymore about it restarting I lifted my head and opened my eyes to find the annoyed blonde Akatsuki member. He was leaning against the threshold of the cell door his back turned to me and his arms crossed over his chest. His body posture showed to the entire world that he was bored and the tell tale taping of his foot showed he was impatient as well. Clutching the heavy drapery over my bare shoulders I slowly stood up; leaning against the wall for support. Looking up again I glowered at his relaxed position against the doorway **'He must really think I'm not a threat at all for him to turn his back to me. **My scowl deepened,** I'm not that weak Barbie!' **I fumed while I languidly walked closer to the ignorant bomber; as I reached his side he snorted and pushed himself off the wall before walking down the dimly lit hallway. I stood mere feet from the threshold to the hallway pausing as the harsh lit swept over my frozen form; I peered around the metal door and stared owlishly into the hallway after the slowly disappearing shock of blond hair. Suddenly the footsteps stopped and the blond ponytail hair swished backward as Deidara looked back and glared icily at me over his shoulder, impatience marking his features in the dim light mixed with deep shadows. _"Come on, yea!"_ he shouted down the hallway at me. I jumped as his deep voice echoed down the hallway at me and willing myself after a few seconds I took a hesitant step towards the mad terrorist and then taking a deep breath I quickly walked over to him. The sound of my feet slapping against the ground bounced around the walls and rang into my ears. He waited calmly as I caught up to him and then wordlessly I began followed down so many different hallway, doors, turns, and stairs, it began to make my head spin. '**It's a wonder how these guys don't get lost around here'** I wondered as I turned around trying to find a door I was sure we had just walked through. After a while as we walked I let my mind wonder as I randomly looked over at Deidara and noticed his Akatsuki cloak was missing.

'**Odd, were did it go? I could have sworn he had it on when he was in the cell with me.'**

As I was pondering the ideas running around my mind I suddenly stumbled on the rough fabric that twisted around my feet. Catching myself from having another beautiful encounter with the floor again and probably breaking my nose some more too I cursed and glowered down at the offending clothing pooled at my feet. _"Oh"_ I gasped out loud softly as I gazed down at the way too big Akatsuki cloak that fell in bunches around my short, small frame and pooled around my feet. **'Right under my nose'** I chuckled with a sheepish grin plastered onto my face. The grin slipped off my features as I glanced back up at Deidara's retreating back with a confused yet weary expression. **'But why would he give me his cloak? I thought he would have made me come with him naked or not; not that I'm complaining!' **I frowned in thought as I jogged over to catch up with his longer legs.** 'Guess these guys have morals too; not matter how small they are' **My musings were cut short as we entered through yet another door and into bright florescent lights that practically blinded me; I paused in mid stride as I held my arm up to block out the irritating light from my shrunken irises. The deadly aura in the room grabbed my attention straight away and I lower my arm hesitantly after a brief pause and blinked as ten shadowed figures came into my blurred sight. The whole Akatsuki in the flesh were all standing around me in a loose circle, watching my reaction. I briefly looked over all of them, curiosity taking over my absolute terror at meeting the infamous criminals face to face. It struck me as odd that everyone was here in person instead of their holograms; even Tobi was jumping in excitement next to Deidara. Was this supposed to happen yet? Speaking of the orange swirly faced devil…

"_OH! Hello girl Chan my name is Tobi san!"_ Tobi all but screamed into my ear as he jumped in front of me. I flinched at his loudness and choose to ignore him as I rubbed my ear; he just kept talking. _"Hey girl Chan! What happened to your nose? Why are you wearing sempia's cloak? Tobi wants a cloak, Tobi is a good boy!"_ he yelled as he jumped to my side and began poking my tender nose and ribs. I grimaced and then frowned as I rounded on him and hastily slapped his gloved, prodding hands away; he made a sad, disappointed sound under his mask before stopping. I looked away from the dejected looking Tobi and the snickering Deidara as I heard the sound of a breeze from behind me. Knowing full well there was no wind in here I had no choice really as I turned around slowly and gazed straight into Pein's gray ringed Rinnegan as he appeared behind me. **'Damn these ninja and their sneakiness'** I fumed silently to myself. He gazed down at me apathetically for a brief moment before speaking.

"_Who are you, really?"_ he questioned monotonously. I started back at him annoyance and weariness replacing the fear in my face and voice.

'**Good grief it's been how long and he still can't he come up with something more original'? **

"_I already answered that"_ I bit out annoyed as I tried my best to remember my back story I had conveniently come up with on the spot. Anger began seeping into his eyes again and I mentally began panicking as I realized my answer had made our conversation turn for the worst and I was walking a thin line of eggshells now. He took a step closer and I retreated a step back.

_"Alright, Alright"_ I spoke up holding my hands in the air in front of me as if to shield myself from Pein's advances. He paused as I took a deep breath and sighed. _"Look, I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't from anywhere near here"_ I paused for only seconds as I gauged Pein's reaction, he didn't seemed fazed and I continued _"In fact I'm from a place where none of you have ever heard of or never will; so just don't ask about it"_ I mused more to myself then anything as I frowned at the floor in thought. Someone cleared their throat to speak but I beat them to it as my hazel eyes snapped back to Pein's ringed grey ones. _"I have no ties to the villages here, and I am defiantly and foremost not a damn ninja "_ I seethed as I finished, my voice cracking with built up anger under the stress of using my hoarse voice more than I would have preferred.

Pein nodded his head slightly _"This is blatantly obvious"_ I swear I could feel one of my veins in my neck pop out as my aggravation reached new heights.

_"But then what the hell do you want?"_ I blurted out in exasperation as I threw my hands above my head.

Pein watched impassively as my frustration unfolded and seemed to be internally debating something. _"You will only be told this once"_ he suddenly spoke icily as he addressed my question. He turned his intense gaze to the entire room briefly and then back to me, the seriousness in his eyes scared me and my muscles tensed in a flight or fight reaction however illogically stupid the notion sounded at the moment now in a room of super human ninjas.

"_You girl, are connected to an incredibly powerful chakra that can possibly rival that of the powers of the tailed demons."_ The simple sentence shocked me to my core and I felt the very breath knocked from me as my jaw dropped and my mind reeled back in disbelief; yet he stood there casually as if talking about the weather. My throat was as dry as a desert bleached bone, I swallowed my tongue and the disbelief colored my face and felt as if an anvil was sitting in my mouth and weighing down my jaw in a temporary state of shock.

"_I…I thought I didn't have chakra"_ I choked out as I interrupted him; inside my head my mind was spinning around in circles.

'**What the hell, I know I'm not one of the nine ****jinchurikis****!' **I willedmy thoughts to run over the strange things that have happen in the hospital and the mysterious colored chakra that had shown itself twice already. **'I knew something was going on with me but to have power that can match the bujis! That isn't supposed to be possible in this world!'**

He gave me a poisoned glare that suggested he wanted to viscously throttle me. I made my jaw snap up with an audible clinking noise and after a tense moment of him glaring at me he continued. "_Yes, you have no internal chakra network, thus even the simplest justu is beyond your capabilities"._ I knew deep down that made perfect sense and knew it would save me from a lot of pain; but even to hear it out loud was still disappointing and crushing_. "Despite this you will learn to control this raw power and it will be used to benefit this organization in whatever goals it needs to accomplish" _I frowned and gulped as it dawned on me what Pein was telling me clinked into place.

"_Ok, wait a second. So you're telling me you all want to use me for this power I seeming have from God knows nowhere to go around, killing innocent people, drowning puppies, and stealing candy from babies all in the name of helping you in world domination?" _I questioned as innocently as I could while I counted off my fingers and, surprising myself, turned to level a glare at Pein. **'Wow, it's getting easier and easier to annoy someone that almost broke my whole ribcage.' **Suddenly from the random murky depts of my unconscious the annoying song that went along with the furniture commercial began attacking my head. My eyes glassed over as I started to sway my head from side to side and begin tapping my foot as I remembered the catchy tune and completely tuned out the hoard of murdering criminals around me.

"_Leader sama Tobi thinks that girl chan is broken"_ Tobi voiced out loud next to my ear, interrupting my happy place once he began poking my arm. I mentally crused Madara to hell but settled for ignoring the bi polar ninja next to me. Suddenly cold metal was placed against my throat and pressed tightly over the taunt skin of my frozen neck. Looking up at Pein I could see murderous fire raging in his cold, calculating eyes. _"How would you know of our plans?"_ he demanded coldly as he pressed the knife harder against my neck; his voice made goose bumps rise on my clammy skin and made my shiver down to my core. Swallowing again I feigned innocence as I asked, _"So you do drown cute, innocent puppies?" _I swear I could feel the many pairs of eyes roll behind me at the bad joke.

'**Tech... You do better!'**

"_Of world domination"_ Pein spat as he glared icily at me. **'Oh shit… I wasn't supposed to know that was I?' **

The kunai shoved against my throat pressed down harder against my neck, it was so tight it began to crush my wind pipe and I could feel a cut forming as I felt beads of cherry red blood dribbled down my pale throat. I laughed uncomfortably and grinned nervously. _"Isn't that just the norm these days?"_ I got no answer as the cut in my neck got deeper; they didn't buy it. **'They can't know that I know about everything about the anime, it will destroy the whole show!' **I paled as option began running out before me. '**Oh man, but then it wouldn't make any sense to them of how I could possibly know about them or their motives. They think I'm a spy or something, oh no, will they still kill me? Damn it all!' **I mentally cursed up a blue streak as I realized I had figuratively backed myself into a corner. _"Seriously, it was a lucky guess" _I gasped out. _"No need to slit my throat for it!"_ I hissed as a steady stream of hot liquid rolled down my neck. Pein evaluated me for a few minutes as his grey ringed eyes burned holes into my fear shrunken ones before leaning into my face, _"You know… much more that you should"_ he noted as his impassive voice rung around the dead silent room. Another time consuming moment passed before Pein tore away from my gaze and looked up at someone, then just as quickly as it appeared the blade's pressure was released from my neck and who ever had put it there pocketed it. I held my throat for a minute as I massaged it and wore a befuddled expression on my bloodied face as I looked back at where all the Akatsuki were now standing around their leader. _"Is that it then?"_ I questioned hesitantly as ten pairs of eyes, and one peeping out of a swirly mask all gazed intently back at me.

_"If i'm going to be staying here can I at least move out of the dungeon? You sort of have a rat problem." _I deadpanned.

"_No. You will as well be accompanying certain pair's members on different missions they are assigned too, you will switch pairs at the beginning of every month."_ My brows shot up in surprise and my gut clench as I took in this new piece of information. I felt dread seeping into my stomach as I looked back at the annoyed and confused men. As they began shouting random complaints and insults towards their leader I mentally went over the list of the pairs of members in my head; quickly deciding I would rather go with neither of them.

"_She's not coming with us leader sama, uh. I rather eat my own clay, tell him Dana, yeah!"_

"_I have no patience for another brat, leader sama"_

"_Fine then, I have a score to settle with her, but I can't guaranty she won't come back in pieces leader sama"_

"_Children and bounty hunting don't mix, besides I can't say if hidan won't use her as one of his sacrifices once I'm busy."_

"_You have no say in it you old, heathen bastard! If I want to kill the bitch I kill her whenever I want!"_

"_Tobi wants girl chan to come with Tobi!"_

"_I don't think that's a good idea Tobi. __**Yes it is what if we get hungry**__?"_

Despite the death threats and ways many of them wanted to mutilate me; I was fighting with every ounce of strength in me to not crack a grin or snicker at their almost childish complaining. This went on and on for a while, I swore I saw a vein pop out from Pein's forehead and I took that as a cure to cover my ears.

"_**ENOUGH!"**_ Pein boomed out with such venom and authority that everything went deadly quiet in a mere second and the raw power of his authority seemed to vibrate off the walls.

'**Good timing too' **I mentally laughed. My spark of hope dropped though when pein's glare rounded on everyone and then lastly on me. _"I've decided who you will be accompanying" _my stomach dropped to my feet and it suddenly seemed as if everything had stopped and held its breath. One pestering thought swam back up to the forefront of my mind and rang out as clear and loud as a bell.

"**Oh hell, I'm screwed."**

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_**Comments and reviews for suggestions of who I should pair Amanda up with! **_


	10. Chapter 9

Hello again kiddies! I apologize if anyone was confused by my last chapter I had to scramble to get it uploaded because I'm out in the middle I'm nowhere and get like five minutes of internet access every few days or so. Btw I went with your pairing XAutumn BottomX, Any way enjoy!

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_**Chapter 9**_

_**Previously:**_

"_I have decided who you will be accompanying" _

Pein spoke as he glanced at me from the corner of his ringed eye. An eerie silence filled the room. Amanda swallowed as the sound of her heartbeat raced frantically through her ears and a thick, suffocating blanket of quiet dread enveloped the lone girl standing in the corner. The sound of Pein's cloak rustling penetrated the heavy stillness as he turned slightly towards the shocked, pale, teenager that had backed herself into a corner. On the opposite side of the room Amanda could feel a shiver run down her spine at the unfathomable cold, unfeeling grey eyes bordering back into her nervous hazel ones. The girl visibly paled as Pein addressed her and backed against the corner some more. Then again, not having seen the sun for as long as she had the teenager's fair skin was already turning a ghostly shade from lack of sunlight. One could hardly tell the difference between the now paling, flushed face and the sickening ashen color of her fingertips that barely peaked out from the cloaks long sleeves. She frowned, grimacing slightly when the simple gesture caused a fat trickle of blood to run down from her obliviously broken and blood smeared nose when she quickly scrunched up her face.

"_Do I really need a babysitter?" _she mumbled not so discretely under her breath. Pein paid no heed to the fuming girl's blatant use of sarcasm as he watched the running steam of blood as it grew wider and silently regarded her broken nose for a moment. Looking away from the unwavering stare Amanda glanced to the ground as she felt fatigue began to weigh down on her body and close her eyes of their own accord.

'**Damn, I'm so tired…'**

She regarded the ground with misty eyes as she became lost in her thought. Feeling suddenly subconscious she closed her eyes and she wiped away the thick trickle of blood from her nose as she sighed out loud in defeat. The other members watched Amanda, then their leader, waiting for his decision; and secretly hoping its wasn't them to be chosen for the task.

"_You are in need of treatment for your injuries." _Pein droned out in an uncaring manner as he looked over the small, obliviously fatigued body before him once again.

"_Kakuzu. Hidan. This girl will accompany you two on your various missions; this will last until the last day of the first week of the next month then she will be handed off to another pair of members."_ All was silent as Pein's authoritive order rung around the room while the leader in question started me down; daring me to voice my opinion. Slowly I opened my eyes to glance up at Pein in confusion and opened my mouth for a moment in blatant disbelieve before shutting it quickly once I caught the look in his eyes that seemed to make his cold impassive face all the more terrifying. Suddenly the whole floor vibrated beneath my feet and I winced as a familiar, loud, angry voice began to yell violently.

"_Screw you leader! She's not coming with us!"_ Hidan shouted before lifting his triple bladed scythe from concrete he split open upon impact. He started bellowing out insults and random swears as he swung his scythe around in a ridicules temper tantrum.

'**It's a cool weapon'** I mused as I cocked my head to the side and watched Hidan act stupidly, as he almost decapitated the other members who snickered at his misfortune, for a moment before my attention was diverted when I noticed Kakuzu step forward into the fray from the corner of my eye. Black tentacle-like threads shot out from Kakuzu's sleeves and wrapped around Hidan's torso and arms before they threw him up into the air and held him there off the ground; this caused even more whining and swearing from the pissed off jahsinist dangling in the air. Like in the animes, I could feel my emotions from into a massive sweat drop that slid down the back of my head as I watched the scene before me unfold.

'**Now if only it wasn't in the hands of a psychopathic ninja who swings it around like a monkey on crack!'**

The sweat drop became bigger with each one of hidan's swears. _"That's something I definitely never counted on seeing in my life" _I chuckled under my breath as I watched Hidan's ear twitch when he heard my chuckling and began thrashing around more violently in rage. Ignoring Hidan being suspended in mid air above everyone Pein glanced at Kakuzu as he spoke distantly.

"_Make sure she stays unharmed"_ he looked coldly up at Hidan and narrowed his eyes as he finished his sentence.

"_And that she stays alive"_

Pein ordered monotonously, but the threat underlying his words rang out loud and clear. Kakuzu nodded once and they both turned their gazes upwards for Hidan's response. Hanging like one of Sasori's puppets in mid air from strings, Kakuzu let his partner dangle there while hidan glared down ferociously at the them for a couple of moments before he nodded his head rather reluctantly with a scowl plastered on his features. The moment of reluctant complacency or as I would have liked to call it **'Kakuzu making Hidan his bitch moment'** was interrupted as someone cleared their throat and a different member other than Tobi voiced a question.

"_We aren't going to interrogate her any more leader-sama?"_ I narrowed my eyes.

'**Cause me more grief why don't you fish?'** I mentally snarled.

Kisame's scratchy voice floated over to my ears as I turned to frown at him and then gritted my teeth when I noticed he had a look of slight disappointment on his face.

'**Maybe because I got paired with the zombie duo he won't get to cut off my limbs any time in the next month'** I noted dryly with my right eye twitching slightly.

"_No kisame. We will obtain whatever useful information she holds when there is a need for it."_ Frowning even more Kisame's beady black eyes roamed the room until he noticed me leaning against the far corner, trying to distant myself as far away from him as possible; He smirked a toothy grin at me, giving me a clear view of all his sharp, pearly, shark-like teeth.

"_Hai leader sama"._ Turning fully in my direction his smirk widened.

"_Just wait till next month shrimp."_

I bared my teeth at him like an angry cat as I tried to glare up at him even from across the room.

'**Shut up fish!' **

I closed my eyes and began to massage my temples as I willed my jumbled thoughts to stop so I could think of something to say before I was sent to my death with psycho and Christmas zombie. Pein glanced from the smirking kisame and then at the still fuming Hidan, who was no longer hanging as Kakuzu's had released him in mid air on the cold, damp, ground below, before he turned to the rest of the Akatsuki and then he nodded once to signal the meeting was over. As the Pein turned to leave the girl finally found the insanity to voice her opinion.

" _What if I refuse to tell you anything? Then what"? _

The girl asked lightheartedly with no underlying emotion in her voice.

"_Will I die then?"_ she deadpanned as she cocked her head to the side with a bored expression yet her eyes seemed to be misty and emotionless. The sight was unsettling everyone to say the least. Everything went dead silent and the air turned icy as even Hidan stopped cursing to anyone in a ten foot radius. Pein turned around slowly with a murderous and powerful aura emanating from his form and some of the members stepped back. I leveled my glare with glazed irises that I knew were mixed with all the feelings of anger, confusion, disbelief and fear that had been swirling in the core of my being like a violent storm ever since I awoke to this damn forsaken world. Most of all that I felt was a sudden burning raw defiance that had burst forward within me and was ripping at my chest as they talked about what information I would give them so casually; as if they were only discussing the weather instead of integrating me for answers later. The feeling of white hot coals never left the pit of my gut as I kept my emotionless façade and for once in my life stared someone down. My eyes begun to blur as I fought to blink and my body felt as stiff as a wooden board while me and Pein openly glared at each other.

'**Never…I'll never tell…'** I chanted to myself. Suddenly a picture from what I remember of the AMV cropped up into my brain. A young Naruto, who couldn't have been older than five, sat alone on the dirt road piteously crying as he was being shunned so cruelly by the villagers; the crying child then transformed into Garra and then into Sasuke and back again. My fists tighten angrily under the cloak; I knew now what I was going to protect now as those visions danced across my mind. My knuckles turned chalky white and my fingernails broke into my skin as my shaking hands grew warmer.

'**I-I…I won't mess this up on my life so help me damn it!'**

After what felt like eons when in fact were only a few moments some strange unreadable emotion flickered across his eyes and suddenly he broke off the stare. As he tore his gaze away from the girl before him he calmly lifted his head and turned to the door without another word. Konan followed him but not before turning to give me an emotionless glance; without breaking her stride she glided wordlessly after Pein and softly shut the door behind her. The silence after the door clicked shut was uncomfortable as it was eerily; but it didn't remain that way for long.

"_What was that about, uh?"_ Deidara asked from across the room as he leaned against the wall, watching the girl with one visibly raised eyebrow.

"_Do you have a death wish or something girl, hm?"_

Subconsciously I could feel many gazes fall onto my back and I could distinctly hear someone bickering in the background. I did not move a muscle as I tuned out the world around me complete. My face, I could tell was vacant of any expression and my eyes held no spark they just had as I passively stared at the metal door before me. My mental barriers were burning and crumbling to dust all around me as my mind began being crushed under the impossibilities of the previous event that have happened as soon as I had opened my eyes to this deranged world. Sporadic twitches began dancing up back and down my arms and suddenly I felt very grateful for the over sized cloak. I had long since given up staring at the door and I let my head drop, my hair fell around me framing my face and hiding my eyes as I let my whirlwind of thoughts take me away.

'**He didn't say anything, so what does that mean? I die? I don't? Torture?**' the list went on and on in my mind.** 'No. I already know the answer to that.'** My eyes widened under the dark shadows my hair cast along my face and my body went numbingly still as the cold hard truth swept through me.

'**I'm going to die… I'm going to die… I'm going to die…**

'…**then why am I not afraid?'**

Suddenly something whizzed by my face and bit into my check; the burning cut and a loud hyper voice broke me from drowning thoughts and out of my trance.

"_Hidan sama that wasn't nice!"_ Tobi scolded playfully while pretending to look shocked the best he could with his mask on. Hidan turned to glare at Tobi menacing.

"_Shut the hell up Tobi!"_ he snarled; guess he was still mad about Kakuzu hog tying him in front of everyone. I tried not to sigh in relieve as I was broken from my train wreck of thoughts by the stinging gash on my cheek and the migraine slowly begun fading from my mind. As Hidan kept cursing up a blue streak at the masked ninja I turned around to observe the chaos behind me. I tried wiping the blood from my face as I watched Tobi flip gracefully out of harm's way just as Hidan's three bladed scythe came crashing down where Tobi's head was a split second ago. Tobi giggled childishly from under is mask before running behind Zetsu.

"_Don't think you can hide behind the plant fucker_!" Hidan yelled as he charged at Zetsu and Tobi. I briefly averted my gaze to Zetsu's face and noticed as his two half's began bickering about something before the meaner, black half of Zetsu garbed Tobi, who was crouched behind them and promptly shoved him out in front of himself as he sunk into the floor reappeared in the wall across the room. _"You're on your own kid"_ Zetsu's black half called out as Hidan lunged at Tobi again. Tobi dodged the attack and darted around the room trying to the use the other members as shields against the all too happily raving lunatic that is Hidan. I was thus completely taken by surprise when strong hands clamped onto my shoulders and promptly shoved me before themselves as they crouched next to the wall behind me.

"_Ah! Please don't tell on Tobi girl chan"_ Tobi whispered very loudly next to my ear. I froze in mid breath as my brain tried to register that the infamous yet psychopathic Madara Uchiha was crouched behind me and WAY too close for comfort. Yes people I had read that far into the manga and I sorely wished I hadn't! My body went rigid and I chocked on my spit as I glanced slowly behind me at the mentally unstable ninja.

"_What?"_ Before he could answer a rough chuckle broke through our semi conversation and I snapped my head back up to see Kisame smirking at us.

'_What for Ma-Tobi'?_ I wondered in puzzlement until I followed some of the others members gazes to the center of the room where Hidan was practically snorting steam as he glared dagger at me, or more so at who was trying to hide behind me.

"_Get out from behind the bitch Tobi so I can sacrifice your hyper ass to Jashin!"_ he growled as he tightened his grip on his weapon. Tobi faked a squeak before peeping over my shoulder again. My brain was melting now in a full panic as I frantically tried comprehending the murderous ninjas behind and now in front of me, and then Tobi said the most stupid thing to possibly say at the very moment.

"_But Hidan sama I thought your god was fake_"? He questioned while feigning innocence as he tightened his bone crushing grip on my arms and stood up while lifting me off the ground as a literal human shield. I stopped struggling briefly as my eyes widened in horror.

' **No, no, no, Tobi you MORON!'**

Hidan's face twitched for a moment before his feature contorted themselves into absolute fury and with an inhuman snarl he lifted his scythe and begun running towards us at full speed.

"_I'll slaughter both of you heathens!"_ he thundered

Tobi yelled comically as he shoved me farther in front of him.

"_Wwwaa! Girl chan save us us!"_ Tobi pleaded. I yelled and fought like a cat against Madara's iron grip as I started screaming at him.

"_Put my down Tobi, Put me down, and Put me the FUCK down Tobi!"_ I howled as I flailing my legs around like a bucking horse as I attempted to at least wiggle out of his grasp somewhat so I could try to recreate the same move I had used on Deidara earlier. A glint of sliver caught my eye and I slowly looked up to see Hidan looming over me with hi s scythe poised and a wicked smirk grew over his face as he took in my petrified expression.

"_Even better, two birds with one stone!"_ he laughed as he swung his scythe down over me and Tobi.

"_WWWAAAHHH!"_ we both screamed and I shut eyes just as Hidan's scythe was about come crashing down on my skull. A loud barrage of sounds and wind abruptly rushing past face assured me I wasn't dead and after a few seconds I hesitantly cracked open one eye to see what had happened. I crossed my eyes as I only saw a red dot after a few seconds I adjusted my eyes to see the metallic red tip of the giant scythe glinting in the bright light only an inch or two from my forehead. My iris shrank to pinpoints and I swear I couldn't feel my heartbeat for a few seconds. Slowly my eyes adjusted of their own accord and I slowly took in the scene behind the blade before me. Hidan again was suspended in mid air by Kakuzu stitches; but this time Tobi was being held in mid air as well by one of Sasori's undead puppets and small white spider bomb were littered all over them like glitter. I numbly turned my head back to the scythe and found Deidara holding the handle on the other side of the triple blades. He was smirking at my terrified expression while holding up one of his hands in his signature jutsu and balancing the heavy scythe in the other. He chuckled darkly as he pulled the scythe away and threw it at the flailing Hidan, earning a hard sucking sound as the blades sunk into the immortal's chest.

"_GAH! I'll maim you all, you damn heathens!"_ Hidan howled in rage and pain.

"_Hidan I don't want you to mess up my cloak you bastard, hmm!"_ Hidan I and scowled at the blond bomber for a moment before hidan began twisting and turning around angrily in Kakuzu's grip.

"_Shut the hell up you little blond bit…muph!"_He was cut off as one of Kakuzu's threads quickly warped around Hidan's big mouth, effectively shutting up the immortal.

"_Brat"_ Sasori deadpanned as he let his blue chakra strings disappear from his fingertips as he released Tobi and his puppet in a heap on the ground. _"Take the girl to Konan I'm assuming she's wearing your clothes for a reason"_ it took all but five total seconds for just about everyone in the room to stop what they were doing and glance from Sasori's emotionless face which give away nothing then to my flabbergasted face that had turned an interestingly similar shade to the puppet master's hair. "Tech" Deidara grumbled something underneath his breath against Sasori as he roughly garbed my shoulder and began dragging me towards the metal door. I blinked slowly as I was dragged away but was too flustered to say anything and I couldn't muster any strength other than to stand and ignore his none too gentle grip on my upper arm. My arms begun to feel leaded and my eyes begun to water and I fought the sudden overwhelming urge to breakdown and cry as I was dragged into the dark, torch lit hallway.

'**What did you expect these guys are hardly gentlemen' my** mind taunted me as I felt him release my arm once we were father down the hall and began to walk briskly down the corridor without a second glance back. '**You are in a whole new world now honey, deal with it.'** I let sigh as I looked up trying to find Deidara's shadow in the gloom. Before I could even take another step towards where I last heard faint footsteps something huge struck me in the back and with a sudden scream and a loud gut clenching crack I hit the cold, hard ground head on. I gasped as white hot needles surged through my head and the world begun to fade to pitch black as it twirled violently; my chest begun to be constricted as something warped itself around me and I choked and gasped when air couldn't fill my lungs anymore and my ribs screamed in agony.

"_H-Help"_ I choked out as I could feel my eyes start to bulge and after a moment I could feel hot blood spurt from my nostril and as it mingled with my cold sweat, a hand gripped by hair while a deep haunting chuckle sounded in my ear.

"_You do know more then you let on"_

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_Sssooo...Who is it this time?_

_Yes i know this chapter was either too short or the wait for the update was way too long and for that i'm horifically sorry for i had no computer or time but if i get one review i'll post another chapter by the endvof that day!. So this is were i had attempted to discribe the characthers personalitlies... how did i do? Please reviews if lost! - please dont hate me._


	11. Chapter 10

Yo everybody. So very very timez a gillon sorry about the delay but i'm so getting writer's block here. If anybody has some ideas from were I should go from here than please please post a comment! Thank u now so much for sticking with this story, now enjoy the show!

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Chapter: 10

_Previously: __"H-Help" I choked out as I could feel my eyes start to bulge and after a moment I could feel hot blood spurt from my nostril and as it mingled with my cold sweat, a hand gripped by hair while a deep haunting chuckle sounded in my ear. _

"_You do know more then you let on"_

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Deidara stopped in his tracks when he heard a scream and then a loud thudding noise that echoed across the corridor. Turning around he noticed he had lost the strange prisoner somewhere within the darkening caverns. He stopped as he grumbled to himself while glaring down the shadowed hallway.

"_Where the hell did she go, uh?"_ he growled to himself as sudden thoughts of the girl stumbling around lost and wandering the base came to the fore front of his mind. No doubt, with her luck she would most likely run into a very pissed off and sadistic Hidan. Groaning bounded off the walls as Diedara massaged his temples and imaged all the different punishments would throw at him if he found out the girl died on his watch.

"_Damn her, uh!"_ he hissed as he spun around forcefully and with speed only a high level ninja could match he ran down the memorized hallways.

The torch flames flickered with the gust of wind rushing past them from the ninja's momentum as he searched the maze of halls leading towards the previous room; grumbling about the many colorful ways he could use his ward as target practice without killing her completely. Skidding on the smooth pavement all his muscles recoiled in reflex as he prepared to dart down yet another countless hallway but not before he heard a soft weak plead echo from the consuming darkness that hugged the hall corners.

"_Help" _

An easily recognizable voice called out from the shadows just outside the circles of light that pooled around the floor from the fire lit torches along the purple shaded stone walls. Diedara's muscles uncoiled as he silently staked towards were he thought he had heard the girl's voice come from with a kunai in hand; his hand mouth licked the cold metal in anticipation. He wondered briefly if someone was suicidal enough to infiltrate the Akatsuki's base of operations; never mind that the location itself was a secret and the base was rigged with fatal traps in all ways. Brushing aside the ridiculous notion as quickly as it appeared, Diedara stepped closer to the encroaching shadows while his single visible sky blue eye narrowed in the darkness when he could just make out two figures on the floor just ten feet away. One was crumbled on the floor while another sat onto of the gasping figure with their knees pressed harshly into the smaller silhouette's back as they sat on top of them. He paused a moment to assure himself by her light shallow gasps that it was indeed the brat he was seeking; then after twirling the dagger in annoyance a couple times, quicker than the blink of an eye, he threw it at where the girl assailant's head was just seconds before.

"_Why did you do that Diedara sama I was just saying goodbye to Chibi chan before she left on her mission!"_ Tobi whined playfully from his new position across the hall as he avoided more kunai whizzing by him.

"_Careful Diedara sama you might hurt chibi chan"_

Tobi scoffed as he held me out in front of him to show his warning before crushing me to his chest like some cherished childhood toy while waving a teasing finger at the blonde bomber in disapproval.

"_You were suffocating her, ya!"_ Diedara snapped in annoyance as he took a menacing step towards Tobi.

"_I was just giving her a hug! She fell by herself, honest sempai!"_ Tobi's explanation was cut off as he dogged more incoming shrunken. A pulsing vein could be seen pulsing from the side of the ex- Iwagakure nin's forehead as his hands began itching towards his clay bag at his hips.

"_What did you call me, hhmm?" _he questioned as a slimy tongue flickered from one of his hand mouths and wiggled like a live snake just above the white mound of explosive clay.

"_Uuhhh, nothing nothing!"_ Tobi choked slightly.

Before the two ninjas could continue their squabble a loud, harsh coughing turned both their attentions towards the struggling teenager that was pinned in Tobi's iron grip.

"_A-Ai Air"_ she choked out in between coughing fits as she pushed wearily against Tobi's arms that were painfully squeezing her lungs_. "Oh. Sorry chibi chant obi forgets how easy you are to break!"_ he giggled impishly. I swore I could feel his arm tighten around my ribs with enough pressure to shatter my ribs and suddenly the constriction was gone. I tried to taking a shaky step forward but collapsed onto my knees as I clutched my head, with the migraine in full swing again. I swear the hypocritical Uchiha would have done so much worse if Diedara didn't show up when he did. I groaned as I pulled my head down between my knees praying that the pressure would bring down my throbbing migraine that had surfaced once again. As someone's arms wrapped around my abused torso I hissed in a mixture of unbearable pain and cold blooded fear while the arms supporting me promptly shoved me away and I fell face first into a hard, warm surface; it was surprisingly comfortable. I moaned once again as the pain in my nose flared up and made another trickle of blood slip past my lips. Hard callused hands clasped again around my shoulders and held me up from collapsing onto the ground. I couldn't tell if it was Tobi or Diedara I had tripped into as I dipped my head in exhaustion and my eyes threatened to lose the battle against an overcoming sense of sleepiness that weighed my eyelids closed. **'Please, please don't let it be Diedara, this will be the second time I've fallen on him in a day'!** Wetness on my shoulder confirmed my fears. I could swear for a brief moment as I was leaning against his chest that something just beneath his cloak moved unnaturally next to my ear. As I pressed my cheek unwillingly against his stiff chest from exhaustion I twisted my head around with great difficulty to watch Madara wearily.

'**Oh yea… he has another giant mouth on his chest'** I remembered as I distinctly felt something push against my sore cheek bone again. _"What the hell did you do Tobi, uh? She can't even stand, yeah"!_ The annoyance and frustration was prevalent in his voice and seeped into every word as his hands holding upright suddenly pushed me away and held me out at arm's length; though he still didn't let me fall. _"Nothing Tobi swears it!"_ Tobi yelled. Quite abruptly he stop in mid rant and began poking my temple; he nodded stupidly as I cringed away from his finger. _"Though, Tobi thinks chibi chan hurt her head a little when Tobi was hugging her"_ He mused childishly as he tapped his chin under his mask, pretending to be in deep though. Suddenly my feet left the floor and I lost my breath as I found a hard, sharp shoulder embedded into my stomach. After hoisting me over his shoulder like some sort of doll, Diedara turned around sharply and promptly began walking as quickly as he could away from the hyperactive ninja calling after him; he didn't even care that Konan's room was in the opposite direction. Before Tobi could begin to run after Diedara the ground around Madara began to shift and then slowly dissipate as Zetsu appeared next to him.

"_Come on Tobi we must get back to the mission…"_ The white side of Zetsu spoke up first and his black counterpart finish his sentence for his other half; _"…and we're not going to wait for you all day either"_. Tobi turned his head slightly towards Zetsu's direction and paused yet again as if contemplating his next move. After a few more oddly tense seconds ticked by Tobi shrugged, apparently unfazed by Zetsu's command and spun back around to wave both arms excitedly at Amanda and Diedara.

"_Bye, bye chibi chan! Hope we see each other soon!"_He called down the hall as he still waved his arms frantically. As Diedara sharply turned a corner I could have sworn I had seen a bright flash of ruby red from the eyehole of the pumpkin like mask. My mind immediately compared Madara's mask with some kind of fiery, demonic jack o' lantern; then the image was gone as fast as it had come when Tobi and Zetsu disappeared from my sight. The farther away we went down the shaded corridors and the more physical distance that formed between me and Madara, the more I began to ease my sore muscles from their stiff position and in minutes I went limp all together. The pounding within my head slowly but surely began to dissipate until all that remained was a dull throbbing between my temples that kept in time with the footsteps of the blond terrorist whose shoulder I was currently hitching a ride on. As much as I was grateful for the many members strange members' odd habit of carrying me when I couldn't walk; but at the same time I wasn't enjoying the way I was being thrown and carried around like a sack of potatoes.

'**Potato's or not it beats having to run after these giants'** I mused as I watched the shadows danced hypnotizing against the walls. Diedara walked quicker than I thought possible and his footsteps echoed rhythmically against the steel like concrete. I swallowed as the rhythmical swaying triggered some deep resistive corner of my subconscious that forced a memory to abruptly intrude to the forefront of my thoughts within my delirious state. I let out a shuddering sigh and I closed my stinging eyes shut as I let the world around me fade away; I let my lull to the side limply as I savored the peaceful escape into my own mind. My settings changed once the warm shoulder I was carefully draped over felt strong and soft and the hand hold the small of my back felt comforting and secure. The memory within my mind exploded to the central focus of my senses as they drifted into a phantasmal mirage, in the vision I could make out a hazy image of a little girl that couldn't have been over the tender age of six or seven; her features became more defined as she continued to run around childishly in an open lawn. Slowly the muffed dull roar around me turned into two sets of laughter by my child self and a man that had suddenly entered the mirage as well, while my past self clung upside off the older male. I watched on as the father grabbed the child's feet while grinning impishly and tickling his now dangling daughter from his shoulders, while distorted from a pounding headache from the blood rushing past her ears, the girl let loose perils of delighted wheezing gasps and laughter as she swung upside down. As the images grew blurry and the laughter begun to fade away I could still feel the lingering sunlight and I could practically taste the flavor of bubbling joy working its way up my chest like some sort of sadistic yet cheerful bile. The childhood memory vanished completely now as it faded to the swallowing darkness of my subconscious that left me with a horrible burning sensation of longing within my chest and a dull throbbing circulating in my head that kept in pace with the rough gasps that ripped through my dry throat. I squeezed my eyes tightly closed as I willed for more unexpected memories to surface and take away my focus from the hollow, empty space in my cramped chest.

'**Right were my heart should be…'** I mentally chuckled in some dark humor that seemed to fog my brain at this point. A fist knocking impatiently on a heavy wooden door awoke me and I realized that Diedara had been standing still for some time now. Curious I tried to adjust myself so I could peak over him but he simple jostled me farther onto his shoulder more so every time I shifted as he waited for something to happen. I sighed inwardly to myself in annoyance and then winced slightly as my ribs struck Diedara's bony shoulders again and the pain made my stomach feel increasingly queasy. Plucking up some shred of courage I still had left I coughed to clear my throat and hesitantly reached out to tug on his shirt to call over his attention.

"_Hey uh, I don't want o sound rude but can you let me down now I can walk… thanks"_ Blood rushed to my face when he didn't answer and my back stiffed in a mixture of embarrassment and anger. I growled softly as my nausea took on new heights and made my head a stomach felt like they were doing summersaults. I bit my tongue trying desperately not to snap at him and begging slightly I held the bitter edge of resentment out of my voice. _"Please Diedara, I don't think you would appreciate it if I hurled all over you" _In a flash he threw me off his shoulders and stepped back with repulsion written all over face as I struggled to lean against the wall while holding my stomach as I pushed myself against the wall. Glaring at him as I picked myself off the ground,

"_Jerk"_ I grumbled to myself. I started at him a moment longer before lowering my gaze towards the floor as I absent mindedly starched by my knuckles out of a sudden nervousness that crept already into the turmoil of my stomach. I turned as the soft hiss of the door opening caught my attention as I spotted Konan's short, blue, hair from the corner of my eye. The blue haired paper Mache ninja glared with half lidded eyes and a semi bored expression at both of the intruding guest at her doorway before she shifted her gaze solely on the hazel irises gazing up at her from the floor in a mixture of confusion and annoyance. I didn't protest as Diedara yanked me up by shoulder before promptly shoving me roughly past the threshold and sent me stumbling into Konan's room; trying desperately not to make a fool of myself by tripping or falling onto my face. I stopped once I had regained my balance and turned around to glare at him before is equally glowering face disappeared from my sight. Blinking slowly it took me a moment for my exhausted brain to contemplate that Diedara's ugly mug disappeared due to Konan abruptly shut the door unceremoniously in the blond bomber's face. As I still started at the traditional Japanese shoji doors I tried not to burst out laughing as I imaged Diedara's stormy face just beyond the thin paper sliding doors; I could still feel his single azure eye glaring angrily at me from somewhere. Turning around I felt Konan's presence before I saw that she was indeed next to me as she had ghosted over towards my stiff form while I was laughing at Diedara's misfortune. Turning around I noted that she held a bundle of clothing under her arms and looked expectedly at me.

"_You are in need of clothes"_

It wasn't a question more than it was a plain, simple, boring statement. Either way I felt my cheeks heat in embarrassment as she thrust the clothes into my unprepared arms and I dipped my head in shame at my current predicament and avoided Konan's penetrating amber eyes. She ignored my bashfulness as she inclined her head to left, across the room to show a separate door that branched off into what I assumed was the bathroom. Or closet_? "You may shower; I will be gone by the time you are done accommodating yourself."_ Glancing up I noticed that Konan had moved with her back turned to me. She was rummaging through a small dresser that had been pushed against the one of the bedroom corners and with a flick of her wrist I was thrown out of my already drifting thoughts as she threw a scratchy towel at my head. Glancing around again I swayed for a moment as I spotted a futon lying on the floor and resisted the overwhelming urge to run towards it and instead I forced my numb muscles to force my sore legs to walk stiffly over to the bathroom. Pausing with my hand over the doorknob I hesitantly turned to look back at Konan with my thoughts still swimming; still unbelieving that I was going to room with her. As if sensing my gaze she turned around with a blue shirt in hand and stared bored at me with her uniquely amber eyes. _"Don't take long"_ she deadpanned I nodded stiffly as she turn around and ignored my presence yet again. I silently closed and locked the door as I turned slowly to face the small mirror, hanging innocently from the wall. I chocked on my spit as my reflection mirrored my gasp. It took my breath away when I reached out to the ghastly reflection in the streaked mirror. As my fingertips connected with the cold, hard, glass I winced reflectively as I carcasses my mirror image in shock. My image looked shocking, It looked as if all the blood from my pale face had been drained and smeared all my over my face from my nose. My cheeks had sunken in a bit and the shade of my skin had turned to a strikingly similar shade to the diming whites of my now, misty, bloodshot eyes. My freckles around my face seemed to look no more than the other flecks of dirt and dust that caked my pitiful face; and my knotted, hair, limply spilled over my shoulders and tangled past my shoulder blades. I took a deep breath as I began to unbutton the blood smeared cloak; and closed my eyes. Wincing at every snap the buttons made I stopped my hand short as I let it dangle loosely and with the other hand I clutched the sides of the cloak, feeling subconscious as my bare shoulders became visible. Swallowing the hard lump of fear lodged in my throat I gripped the fabric tighter around myself before letting out a shuddering sigh of air as I let go and let the dense fabric fall away from my form and pool in a dark puddle of black cloth around my feet.

"_And for the grand finally" _

I murmured to myself as I opened my eyes and examined my body in the cold, cynical, mirror; surprisingly my seemed fairly normal except for the scary shade of white my semi tan skin had become.

"_Wait…"_ I mused as I quickly realized my hand was still blocking the majority of the mirror. Taking my hand off the glass I spared a moment to hit myself lightly on my forehand at my ridiculous blunder before I took another careful examination of myself. My body was skinner and not as toned as I remembered while my ribs jutted out every time I moved my torso; but that wasn't what I had zoned in on. My jaw went slack as I stared at my chest, exactly where Pein had stomped the living daylights out of me. The bruise I had ghosted my hand over when I was in the cell had been fairly painful but I hadn't actually given it a second though to how it looked. The center of my chest looked like it had been dented in like a car fender and the discolored bruising had seemed to have originated in the center of my chest and spread as far as my collarbones and even to the sides of my ribs. My whole chest was such a mess of disordered colors that I couldn't even tell where the worst parts of the bruising where or where the healing had already begun.

"_I don't want to know what that looked like before Kakuzu fixed me up"_ I mumbled to myself as my eyes were still trained in on my disfigured chest. I gently held my chest as I stood there for a few moments before remembering Konan's demand not to take forever in the shower. I stopped in mid stride when I noticed an almost bright red streak just under my right hip bone. The mark tickled something in the back of my mind and I turned in a half circle as I followed the slightly bleeding mark. My arms fell limply to my sides and I felt as if my jaw would unhinge at any moment in shock. The cut on my hip was tiny but as it raced parallel across my back I saw that it grew to the size of my forearm. I threw my fist to my mouth to keep from letting the scream and hyperventilating gasps that had been bubbling up from within my stomach and that threatened to claw its way through my raw throat. The giant gash was healing fairly quickly despite its size and from what I had previously imagined it had looked like before. Once I had finally noticed a neat, straight line of gigantic black, tread like stitches stitched onto my back it made my stomach flip violently and I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I tore my gaze from the mirror and rushed as fast as I could to the sink before vomiting anything and everything my stomach could produce; including some blood. My body shook so badly when I had finally finished I let myself lie on the deliciously cold floor and waited until the shaking and nausea had lessened considerably before I could breath normally again. My eyes clouded over as I picked myself off the floor and shuffled my feet towards the shower. I didn't remember when I had turned on the shower or when the water hit my fevered body but as I let the water travel down my form. I watched as the trails of grime, dirt, and blood wash down the small drain between my feet. The spray of cold water around me prickled my already numb skin and as I turned off the shower goose bumps rose from my freezing flesh when the cool air assaulted my body. Shivering I dried myself with a scratchy towel before slipping it around myself and pausing on front of the mirror again. Turning around I let the towel fall and winced at the now clean cut running down my back; the flesh at the tips of the dark stitching seemed to be jagged and bruised looking.

"_I really hope that doesn't become infected"_ I mused through shivering teeth as an afterthought.

Wincing again as I watched the skin on my back twist awkwardly I quickly turned the door knob and peaked my head out slowly. The first thing I noticed or more like realized was that Konan really was gone and, thankfully the door was still shut and locked.

'**Not like that would do much good though'** I noted dryly. Doing a double take I assumed the female blue haired kunoichi was gone before I hesitantly made my way out of the bathroom and shyly tighten the towel around myself. Silently padding my way over to the bed I saw a few more articles of clothes Konan had laid out for me. _"She must have guessed my size"_ I mused as I held a white tank top to my chest. I stumbled around and fought to change into the clothes she had given me previously as quickly as I could for fear that, with my luck, one of the male members would randomly walk in on me half naked. Struggling to put the shirt over my back I arched my back and hissed like a cat every time the soft material brushed against the hypersensitive stitches. After a few more moments of hissing and swearing I groaned sadly as I noticed the pair of shorts were too lose and didn't fit quite right. I sighed as I dragged myself over to Konan's dresser and testily began opening a few draws until I pulled out what I was looking for and I smiled when the sash like belt was looped around my hips, effectively holding up the shorts. Throwing the clothes into a pile by the corner of the futon I unrolled a few blankets I had found as I begun to copy and create a makeshift futon; I hesitantly started to check my sloppy mess of blankets for any hidden surprises, you know like kunai, shrunken… more rats. I grinned in sleepy relief when nothing attempted to leap out and chew off my face as I slipped into the itchy and I think dusty blankets. Laying on my stomach I laid my head in the crooks of my arms and within seconds I felt my muscles go limp and my mind was pushed over some invisible edge and into a dreamless, pain free oblivion.

Why couldn't it just have stayed that way?

* * *

I awoke to a musky, stagnate odor that waffled under my nostrils and made my extremely stiff body involuntarily cringe before I groggily blinked my eyes open while I rubbed them with my fists like a small child. Unaccustomed darkness immediately enveloped my sight like the thin blankets I had wrapped around my shaking frame. I grunted as I made a face at the unpleasant odor and tightly pressed the flimsy cloths to my shoulders as my teeth chattered slightly from the strange coldness in the damp air.

I awoke to the unaccustomed darkness enveloping my sight like the thin, shaggy blankets wrapped around my shuddering frame.

'**It's official…I'm dead'**

I groaned as I rolled off the make shift bed beneath me and landed on the hard, cold concrete with a yelp and a made a mad dash back into my warm cocoon of blankets. Mornings are not kind to me apparently.

"_What time is it?"_ I grumbled as I curled deeper into a fetal position in a feeble attempt to keep myself warm. After a few more moments of shivering under the blanket I groaned again as I slowly crawled out from under my makeshift bed. I bit back a shout of surprise when I nearly tripped on my numb feet. I sighed as I fell back into the bed and stared up at the ceiling with hazy eyes and wondered, half asleep, if I should start to get up before someone came to get me. Quickly as that thought registered in my mind I snapped my head to the side to see that the bigger bed to the far side of the room was neatly made, and that Konan was still gone.

'**Does she ever sleep?'** I propped myself onto my elbows to quickly to observe that the room was indeed deserted of the blue haired ninja.

'**Where on earth could she have gone so early?' **

"**Maybe she's on a mission?"** I mused out loud as I tapped my chin in thought. Shaking my head briefly to clear away my useless bubbling questions I tried standing up again only until a very loud one crossed my brain before it was too late to banish it and made me collapse in a tangled heap.

'_She probably is rooming with Pein, after all I never really saw her come back in'_ a suggestive voice mused from the back of my mind. Blushing like mad I ignored all the perverted images that threaten to burst from my semi conscious mind as I fought in a flustered mess to untangle the sheets from my legs.

"_Damn you fan fiction_" I muttered angrily as I rubbed my legs fiercely before attempting to stand yet again and hobbled over to the bathroom door. Every step I took on my leaded feet made them feel like they were encased in permanently frozen blocks of ice; causing an annoying pins and needles sensation to dance up and down my arms and calves. Pausing to let out a grateful sigh as my hands clutched the smooth metal doorknob I twisted it forcefully and stumbled into the bathroom to change into something. Grabbing a familiar, rough, gritty fabric, I paid no heed to my scars that encompassed the majority of my torso as I hoisted the dense, now newly washed Akatsuki cloak on my sore shoulders. I grumbled to myself as I stumbled half heartedly back into my mess of a futon on the floor.

"_Hope he takes it back"_ I murmured as I fidgeted with the billowing, black sleeves and rolled over onto my chest. I moaned softly in pain as I lied on my stomach and stiffly stretched out my aching limbs. I winced as my tender chest complied too the pressure of my body weight.

"_Maybe they'll forget me or maybe they'll leave me here on purpose!" _

I gasped out loud as a small ray of hope shined brightly before my eyes and I smiled as I prayed it would work.

'**I doubt it'** a small dark voice of reason argued from the recesses of some distant corner of my mind. _'There not going some total mysterious stranger wander around their top secret base and give them a chance to escape and blabber everything about their organization that they know.'_

My smile suddenly flattered and disappeared as the small ray of hope snuffed out before my eyes. I shuddered as the thought truly crossed my mind of how lethal it would be being stuck with any Akatsuki member for any length of time…especially Hidan. I shivered as the temperature in the room suddenly seemed to drop some twenty degrees.

'**Why is it so cold around here!'** Frowning I snuggled deeper into the tent like cloak as the chill bit into my fevered body. Suddenly soft tapping could be heard from somewhere beyond the creaky wooden door to the room before a strange groaning noise erupted from the rotting wood.

'_What the…"_

I jumped up as the door was suddenly thrown, roughly from its hinges and crashed onto the floor making shattering splinters fly everywhere all at once. As the dust settled I cautiously peaked from out of the warm futon as some sharp wooden splinters fell from the shifting blankets and I peered up to see very angry lavender eyes glaring directly at me from the destroyed doorway. I repressed a shudder as he growled and walked over to me; instinctively I huddled deeper under the blankets as I tried to shrink away from the intimidating, sadistic psycho scowling down at me.

"_Oi, get up bitch were leaving now"_ he growled as he garbed the sheets and with the flick of his wrist I came tumbling out of my warm cocoon in a flurry of blankets and onto the icily hard floor below.

"_Ow…"_ I moaned as a familiar pain shot up my back, while holding my lower back I felt a bit of warm wetness stain my fingertips. Trading my view of the unpleasant concrete for an equally unpleasant yet smirking Hidan I frowned and stood up as quickly as I could to level a weak glare at him. Down casting my eyes I retreated into the bathroom again to retrieve my now clean spare of clothes. Seconds after the door shut Hidan frowned as he walked over to wait in the hall and then after a few more moments he growled in annoyance as he was forced to wait "Stupid bitch…" he growled as he swayed his triangular pendant and began tapping his foot as he waited for the small teen. Folding the Akatsuki cloak she had been given previously under her arm she stopped just inside the destroyed doorway as she studied him wearily. Hidan glanced up and met her apprehensive gaze head on with his own as he noticed an odd sort of calmness and curiosity emitting past the anger and confusion in the wide misty hazel that studied him. Frowning at the strange emotions that were prevalent in the girl's eyes he glared mildly to get her to avoid his gaze again before he roughly gripped her arm and grinned wickedly as he her whimper under her breath. He squeezed a little harder, making sure not to break her arm, but enough to hear her hiss in pain. He dragged her roughly through the mazes of rooms and hallways towards where his equally impatient partner was busy counting his money as he waited for the two to show. I stopped once I noticed Hidan had and I looked up to see an impatient Kakuzu watching us with annoyed red green eyes before he focused his glare on me. I tried to suppress a shudder as the now two strange pairs of eyes focused in on me. In my mind's eye they seemed to belong more to a pair of haunting demons than two humans. **'Close enough to demons' **I though as I downcast my eyes as I felt a prickle of icily dread seep into my gut.

"_She is not allowed to see the entrance; leader's orders"_ Kakuzu deadpanned; the faint smirk on hidan's face grew into an all out malicious grin as he over head his partner. My eyes widen as that prickle turned into a stab of fear that ran down my spine and my breath hitch in my throat as a screaming blow to the back of my head made bright lights explode in front of my vision. The whole left side of face went numb as I collapsed onto the stone ground. My body felt oddly disconnected from my mind and I swore loudly as the bright kaleidoscope of colors started to fade away into more inky blackness.

"_Bloody hell"_

A thick black strand slithered silently away from the unconscious girl and wound its way back around Kakuzu's arm as he reattached his stitching_. "Damn it Kakuzu I wanted to do it"_ Hidan whined while his semi annoyed partner picked Amanda off the ground and threw her prone body over his broad shoulders. Passing the bickering jashinst without giving him second glance he stopped as he turned back lazily to him. _"Let's go already" _After more grumbling on Hidan's part, the two missing ninja's shot through the dark halls and after navigating the different mazes of the complex building the leapt out the open balcony in a semi free fall. Landing perfectly like cats the pair of assassins raced across the paved titled rooftops of the rain village as its namesake began to rain down on them. Mid way out of the village the heavens suddenly began to pour down their fury on the duo and the stinging, heavy, raindrops rushed over them while the merciless winds abruptly howled at their backs like a ravenous beast. Running at a faster pace to escape the violent and sudden storm they ran with seemingly inhuman speed the two Akatsuki members flew like a pair of bats across the small hidden village of Amegakure. The black and red cloaks faded into the thick embrace of the forest foliage after a few seconds…

And then disappeared completely.

* * *

Thanks for reading if you have any ideas please post! :3 Agian so sorry bout the spelling errors or the wait, i promise i'll try to get these up faster! ;D


	12. Chapter 11

Alrighty then... I completely apologize for the lateness of this chapter (Too many ideas swirling around in my brian but i had too create a story bridge to get to them) thus i had MAJOR WRITERS BLOCK!Horrible, horrible disease really... Anyways i kinda cut this chapter in half to build more suspense and thus get my creative juices flowing up again! So viva la vida! More chapters on the way!

P.S: Also think of this as my belated Christmas gift and my punctual New Years Eve present to all of you, enjoy! ;D

* * *

Chapter: 11

The sound of shuffling feet and the feel of steadily swaying back and forth made me feel slightly nauseous but I didn't dare move a muscle.

After a hesitant moment I took a leap of faith as I quickly blinked open my eyes to the welcome sight of warm sunlight streaming down unto my face.

I rolled my head towards my left quickly stopping once another headache sent an intense throbbing piercing through my temples.

Resisting the urge to groan in frustration I bit my tongue as I realized with a jolt that I was being carried over someone's shoulder.

I paled as I remembered my only two choices of company as I considered whose shoulder I was being slung over now.

'**Hidan or Kakuzu'** I gulped as I tried to control myself from kicking and screeching like a banshee at my current company.

My stomach twisted itself uncomfortably as my fists balled up in panic and I fought a hyperventilating set of whimpers that begged to escape from my throat.

'**I'm so going to die, regardless of whom ever I piss off!'** I mused miserably. My eyes widened in alarm as I recalled Pain's short speech about my time with my so called babysitters.

'**Till the first snow fall…' **

'_**Wait a tic, that around two months not one!' **_my jaw dropped in astonishment at my current death sentence_**'How in the hell am I supposed to**_

survive with the zombie duo for TWO WHOLE MONTHS!'

Ignoring the pain in my stiff neck I titled my head slightly upwards to view the enormous  
seasonal tree cover canopy above.

I quietly began praying to whatever divine intervention this world offered to help me out of the fatally deep mess I

had gotten myself into.

I let my head limply roll over as the shoulder I was on jostled a bit; so as not to have the current owner of said shoulder to realize I was awake.

With my head titled sideways now I noticed that no one was behind us.

**'At least we don't have to worry about enemy **ninja' Irelaxed the best I could as I watched the bright colors of the autumn trees fly by in a barrage of golden, amber, and brunt hues.

The soothing slight of the change of seasons in the leaves brought a sense of child like awe that I hadn't known in a long time, despite my current predicament.

'**Beside the hordes of mass killing ninjas, psychos, and demon possessed people, this place is really quite beautiful'** I mentally crooned as I sleepily blinked once or twice before succumbing to my head ache with a rare smile gracing my face.

* * *

Night had come quickly without much warning from the storm darkened sky.

It was only when the stormy deep grey clouds would occasionally recede did the crescent moon shined its bright beams across the deep green forest foliage.

The cold autumn wind blew a steady yet peaceful breeze while short gusts of wind picked up arrays of colorful leaves that were fluttering in an air borne dance.

Another hard gust of wind scattered more crisp foliage from their lazy windblown waltz, this time the sound of the whispering wind was accompanied by the sound of the soft thudding of sandaled feet on solid earth.

The two shadowed figures landed softly like cats, despite their high descent from the shadowed treetops.

Their black cloaks flew upwards with their descendent while gravity forced the stray mid borne barrage of autumn leaves to slowly float gracefully back down to the ground once the wind had died down.

One of the figures shifted uncomfortably on his feet under the extra weight he was forced to carry over his shoulders; which didn't go unnoticed by his partner.

"_What the matter Kakuzu, you getting tired?" _

Hidan jeered as he smirked at his partners' burden of carrying the small body of the girl over his shoulders since sunrise.

Carrying someone that small forawhile was easy but still carrying any amount of heavy weight all day would be tiresome.

The smirk never left his features as he back flipped out of harm's way when Kakuzu threw various strings of black stitching at him.

"_Oi cut it out you old bastard!"_

Hidan growled as he momentarily landed on one of the colossal tree branches, only to have it break off from under him as Kakuzu continued his on slat.

After a few more seconds of bickering, kunai throwing, and fighting, the black treads hounding after Hidan slid silently back to Kakuzu and disappeared into his arm as he reattached his stitches.

Without so much as a glance back towards his partner Kakuzu continued onto the road they had been following, with a glaring swearing Hidan in toll.

After another few moments of slowly walking, bright, festive, lantern lights could be seen in the distance and as the duo walked closer and closer to the town the dull roar of a boisterous festival could be heard piercing the night stillness like a knife.

The pair stopped momentarily on top of a small hillside overhead the village as they observed the spectacle before them. Hidan raised an eyebrow as he glanced oddly at his partner.

"_A festival…seriously?"_ he questioned moodily as he frowned sullenly. Suddenly a wide malicious grin spread across his features as he chuckled darkly.

"_I'm going to be giving a hell of a lot of sacrifices to Jashin tonight…!" _

"_No, I have a large debt to pick up"_ Kakuzu cut Hidan off as he abruptly continued walking. Hidan's face faltered for a moment as he snarled at his partner,

"_The hell I can't sacrifice these heathens to Jashin you old money lover!"_ he growled forcefully as he chased after his partner again.

After another couple of hours the duo finally entered the city.

They ignored the whole celebration as they walked past the colorful spectral of lantern lights, the traditional numerous, noisy, merchant stalls and food stands, and the overall thunderous roar of festive villagers enjoying their festival.

What the two didn't notice was the limp girl over Kakuzu's shoulder hand had twitch slightly and a pair of glazed hazel orbs slowly peak out from their cracked lids hesitantly before squinting them shut against the harsh florescent lights around them.

The two finally stopped in front of a rundown looking inn, glancing up at it anyone could tell it was alive with activity; and not the good kind.

The inn's small reception entrance was at first glance as shady as its outside appeal but as the ninja walked beyond the next door the room's atmosphere changed completely as the rest of the first floor seemed to be a brothel of some sort.

"_You're picking up your debt here?"_ Hidan questioned slightly jaded as he surveyed the absolute chaos occurring inside the room they had just arrived in.

Barstools were overturned, drunken men were laughing in various shady corners, and dark shadows were mashed against the dimming light bulbs hanging against the walls.

The room's more sober occupants, namely the waitresses and a few other men, quickly noticed the new comers and halted in their antics to avert their eyes before hastily continuing their previous actions.

Walking past the sullen villagers the two stopped short of a slightly hidden door underneath a staircase in the back of the room.

Suddenly Kakuzu threw the unconscious girl slung over his shoulders at Hidan. He grunted as he caught the unexpected thrown figure and the shifted the weight that fallen onto his shoulders.

"_What the hell Kakuzu, don't leave me here with this bitch!"_ Kakuzu ignored him

_"Oi! Kakuzu!" _Hidan whined after him as he followed his stony partner. Kakuzu ignored the angry Jashinist as he brushed past him and towards the door.

_"Shut up Hidan. I have a debt to collect so it's your turn to watch the damn brat"_ The sadistic Jashinist shot his partner a dirty look before the two walked into another, more private room, were a scowling man was counting large stacks of yen and bills while smoking a thick cigar; a cloud of thick smoke swirled around his head hiding his features.

Hidan quickly blended into a corner within the shadows of the poorly lit room as Kakuzu took a step into the light of the shabby, small, room.

Two burly bouncers stood on either side of the aggravated man's desk, looking up they both tensed once they saw who had walked in their manager's office unannounced.

The man behind the oversized desk flowing with money paused in his scrutiny over his beloved cash once he noticed a large shadow that had suddenly blocked out his light as the shade had fallen over his money pile.

Snapping his head up and out of the thick cloud of cigar smoke, the man's sharp features became clear and the permanent scowl on the man's face vanished and his features quickly contorted into a failing mask of indifference as he tried to hide his terrified expression from the surprise visitor before him.

"_K-Ka-Kakuzu sama…how un-unexpected"_ the man tried to conceal the horror in his shaking voice, but to no avail.

"_My debt is owned today, Gozobora"_ Kakuzu narrowed his eyes as he stared down the man down.

Gozobora shifted uncomfortably in his chair and fought the overwhelming urge to shiver as he surveyed the room and caught sight of Hidan leaning against a corner. Hidan smirked wickedly once the man glanced his way as he watched the squirming man's misfortune.

"_Your deb-bt isn't owned until mid-midnight!"_ Gozobora choked out as he widened his eyes.

"_My money is owned tonight, I never specified when it was due." _Kakuzu growled out as his icy composer hardened to stone and his green-red eyes narrowed further.

Gozobora's mouth hung open, flabbergasted that he was being cheated out of only a few more hours. Suddenly his mouth snapped shut with an audible click and a small but sly grin formed over his features.

_"Say here Kakuzu, if you give me till midnight tonight I will have your money __plus…"_ Suddenly the man was flung him harshly from his seat and pinned up against the wall by Kakuzu's black threads.

The two shocked bodyguards beside his desk were too slow to react when more black threads flew out from Kakuzu's sleeves and slammed their heads against the wall simultaneously.

Hidan grinned as he enjoyed the violent show playing out before him; his grin widened as he tighten his grip on his scythe, feeling the bloodlust in the air.

_"You're trying to bargain with me Gozobora?"_ Kakuzu smirked underneath his mask as the useless loan shark twisted in his grasp and with bulging eyes the chocking man tried gasping out incoherent pleas.

…_Augh! I-interest!"_ The man was dropped abruptly as Kakuzu released him; as he fell to the ground Kakuzu appeared over him, interested in his choice of words.

"_Interest"_ Kakuzu deadpanned as his smirked widen underneath his mask; his pupils gleamed with an undisguised glint of greed.

Being merciful in any way was foreign and rare for Kakuzu, but the temptation of more money was becoming more appealing to him by the minute. Hidan rolled his eyes at the pathetic man's actions to buy more time from his partner's undisguised love of money.

_"15% more interest added to the original sum"_ Gozobora smirked shakily as he picked himself off the ground and slowly backed away to his desk; in his upright position he quickly noticed his body guards sprawled across on the floor, he couldn't tell if they were unconscious or dead.

"_40% interest along with the money you owe me"_ the man frowned before clenching his teeth and nodding his stiff neck slowly. _"Alright, 40% extra in __exchange for a midnight limit."_

"_Done"_ Kakuzu nodded once in agreement before turning to walk out of the small, shady, office without give the lone shark a second glance. Before either one of the Akatsuki members could step foot outside the doorway Gozobora's voice floated back to them.

_"Hey"_ they both stopped, and turned slightly _"As an added bonus…" He grin wolfishly "I'll buy that half dead hoar on your shoulders when you're done with her"_ the man nodded his head towards the girl, whose was still slumped over Hidan's shoulder.

Kakuzu turned around slowly, stopping once fully turned to stare at Gozobora intently for a moment, as if seriously contemplating his offer.

Hidan turned as well, glancing from this Gozobora guy and then disbelievingly to his partner wondering if he was seriously thinking about selling the girl for a few extra yen over facing leader's wrath once he learned that his orders were directly disobeyed.

'**Tech… No. he isn't that fucking stupid'** Hidan admitted begrudgingly to himself. He scowled mentally, **'I wish we could sell her off, so I won't have to ****deal with this screaming bitch once she wakes up.'** he shifted the girl's weight on his shoulder, already sick of carrying her.

"_The girl isn't for sale"_ Kakuzu deadpanned.

"_Hhhmm… I didn't think you would care that much over a little hoar Kakuzu" _the slamming of the door carelessly was all Gozobora received as a reply after the zombie duo swiftly exited the room.

_"Unless she worth something a bit more than a hoar?"_ The sleazy man's smirk grew after a moment as he drew up a plan to weasel out of his debt.

_"I guess we'll find out then…"_ he chuckled darkly as he turned to his moaning bodyguards before kicking then both swiftly in their sides for their incompetence.

_"Wake up your imbeciles!"_ the greedy loan shark snapped, the men on the floor groaned in reply as they held their heads as if they had just woken with a nasty hangover.

_"I would fire you dumb-asses if I didn't have a job for you to do_" he sniffed as he returning to his seat to continue drooling over his ridiculously large money horde.

* * *

The swirling, bright, lights and obnoxiously loud noises made my head ache as I drifted in and out of consciousness.

'**Am I at a party?'**

My head ace refused to budge as I shifted my head slightly from side to side. I mumbled incoherent swears at the noisy people below as I quickly opened my eyes to the sight of dim lights that were accompanied by a low roar of music, laughter, and shouting below me.

Blinking away the heaviness in my eyes I could make out a fuzzy, bright, light above me as I laid on my back and then slowly the light dimmed itself as my eyes adjusted themselves until I could make out a cheap florescent light bulb that hanged loosely from a cracked, mildewed, ceiling within my blurry vision.

I slowly sat up, expecting pain from my back, only to raise my eyebrows in surprise as I heard my joints pop and crack with the effort.

'**Wow, how long was I asleep for?'** I mused as I shook dirty, stray locks of my damp hair from my face.

'**Wait!'** Amanda's head instantly snapped up as she twisted herself around to find herself alone in a small cheap room. She pushed herself onto her heels and leaned onto her arms.

I gasped as I now had started to feel my whole head ache and I clutched my abdomen as I felt my bruised stomach. I grunted as I stood up; wobbling only for a moment as I rubbed my unused legs and surveyed the completely deserted room.

**'Empty…?'**

"_Then how did I end up her…OW!"_ I yelled as I rubbed the lump on the back of my head…right were Kakuzu had knocked me out.

"_That son of a…!"_

I stopped short and glanced around the room again, afraid either Hidan or Kakuzu would be standing there; ready to send me into a coma if I ever finished that sentence.

I huffed as I closed my eyes and concentrated on straining every single sense I could in seeing if I was truly alone.

After a while of standing perfectly still I didn't hear anything or recalled seeing no one else's belongings, nor could I couldn't even smell anything other than the faintstench of the moist rotting walls of the shady room.

Opening my eyes I eased my muscles as I trusted my senses and sighed in relief that I was truly alone for the moment.

Or at least as far as I could tell.

'**Where the hell are those jerks anyway?'** I mentally snarled, still angry about being knocked out for nothing.

_"I could have just closed my damn eyes as they had left their base"_ I bit out as I stomped over to the door. Glancing at the brass knob I gulped as I hesitantly placed my hand over the handle and tightly gripped the chilled contraption.

I could feel an overwhelming sense of dread and confusion twist within my stomach as cold sweat trickled down the nape of my neck.

**They wouldn't have let me here alone… would they?** I gripped the icy handle tighter in anticipation.

'**How in the world would I escape, even if it was unlocked?'**

My heart sped up to a mile a minute and my head started to spin as I began to forcefully twist the knob. **'And what would happen if they found me…?'**

Nothing happened.

I grunted in frustration as I jiggled the knob more violently and pulled and pushed as hard as I could against the wooden door.

The frame wobbled slightly in its hinges but wouldn't budge another inch as I slammed my weight into its side.

Sighing in disappointment I leaned against the door and slowly slid against it as I sat down onto the hard, wooden, floor_._

_"I can't open it, they must have locked it from the outside"_ I growled as I rested my head onto my knees and loosened my stiff neck muscles as I mentally drifted into space.

Suddenly a newfound rush of emotions exploded from my gut as I balled my fists in anger as a quick panicked thought swam to the fore front of my mind.

"_I need to get away from those two!"_ I exclaimed in bubbling anger as I shook my clenched fists in the air before squeezed my eyes shut.

I saw my vision was blurring as my throbbing headache increased its tempo with my rage. I let out a long shuddering sigh as I forced my anger to dissipate, and after trying to fight another wave of useless self pity I allowed my anger to fade away completely along with the throbbing headache.

Suddenly the throbbing began again and my whole body began to shudder silently. Amanda snapped her eyes open in bewilderment as the quick shuddering sensation disappeared as quickly as it came.

I rubbed some wetness around my eyelashes as I looked around only to realize as the shudders began once again that it was the vibrations of someone knocking on the thick door I was prompted up against.

I blinked owlishly as I stood, confused as to why Kakuzu and Hidan would be knocking when they could just unlock the door and enter.

'**What if it isn't them?'** my eyes opened up like saucers and my mouth hung open in joyous shock; I felt like I could scream in happiness.

'**They can unlock the door for me!' **I jumped to the door and quickly jiggled the knob forcefully and banged back onto the door.

_"H-hey…"_ I winced at how rough and dry my voice sounded; I swallowed thickly before taking another deep breath _"Can you open the door it's locked from my side!"_ I pleaded, abandoning all pride I had left.

I figured I didn't have much left at this point after being stabbed, beat, tortured, and being seen completely naked by various crazy people.

'**Oh god, why did I have to remember that part!'** I shuddered and shook my head in disgust as I remembered that disturbing little detail that happened between me and Diedara in the prison cell.

Can you say awkward?Abruptly I was jogged from my thoughts when I was physically pitched forward as the door beneath me swung open and this miraculous rescue ended with me falling in a ungracefully manner, face first out into the hallway.

I moaned as I picked myself up and sat back on my knees as I slowly started from the sets of two sandal clad feet and upwards.

My eyes traveled up and I noticed quickly that these two figures were certainly and without a doubt not my Akatsuki wardens; they didn't even have any cloaks. Though my relief was short lived as my eyes traveled up to their faces.

Two sets of almost identical twisted smirks and golden teeth shone in the dim hallway light from the couple naked blubs overhead. Rough and shady faces with crooked, broken noses set under twin pairs of dark beady almond eyes leered down at me; my skin crawled as I fully looked at these men and suddenly I was beginning to feel that being confronted by an angry Akatsuki member was looking more appealing then these creeps in front of me.

The one closest to me took one step forward; his smirk grew into a sleazy grin that showed off his few gold teeth again.

"_This has gotta be her man"_ the other man standing nearer to the wall nodded in agreement, never losing his smirk either. _"Yea, boss said she was a dainty bitch"_

I snarled at the degrading term while one of them reached a grubby hand out; noticing it I spat at his hand which only caused the one closer to me to become excited and smile wider.

_"And she's got a temper! Ha, boss should like that."_

The other grease ball smirked wider but quickly lost his superior attitude as he suddenly began shifting anxiously from one foot to another as he looked up and down the hallway.

He growled like some kind of disgruntled dog at his partner in crime "_It doesn't matter man, grab her and go before those two ninjas get back here! Or do you want to see if they have a temper too!"_

The other paled and turned a slight shade of green before nodding vigorously to his friend and turning to focus his attention at the task assigned to him.

My eyes widened in fear and surprise; I knew what was about to happen, I didn't need a second clue that these men were here for me, even though I had never seen them before in my life.

I sucked in a deep breath as I noticed a pair of meaty, hairy hands reach out as one of the men lunged for me.

Everything seemed to go into slow motion, as if time itself had begun to stop; the hands reached out further towards my shirt as the sluggish seconds ticked slowly by and my body felt petrified within that frozen moment in time.

My heart seemed to slam viciously against my ribs as my mind screamed at my immobile muscles to move and escape.

With every ounce of strength I had left I willed my muscles to uncoil themselves; I could feel the blood shooting through my legs as I leaped forward with yell.

"_Sayonara Suckers!"_ I barked as I ducked and ran headfirst through the two stunned kidnappers, narrowly missed the man who tried to snare me as I blotted down the hallway.

"_What the hell!" _

"_Shit! Catch her you moron!" _

I could barely hear the thundering of heavy feet echoing down the hallway as the two burly goons chased after me against the blood pounding in my ears.

Panting heavily I rounded a corner and almost fell as I flew down a flight of stairs before me; the men were hurling insults at me as I went.

Landing at the bottom of the staircase I whirled around to be assaulted by the disgusting smell of cloying smoke and the sharp acidic stench of spilt alcohol that made me gag.

Jeering drunkards were boasting out defending amounts of laughter as they drank and were enjoying a bar fight in the back while the other more sober men were harassing and become frisky with a couple of flirtatious waitresses.

I gimmicked in disgust for a moment as I spied a couple that were doing a little more than frisking; not noticing two shadows creeping up silently behind me.

A set of gritty hands garbed my forearms as another set of cold fingers clamped over my mouth; cutting off my gasps and practically crushing my lips into my face.

The goons I had momentarily forgotten about hauled me off the floor and dragged me behind the staircase I had sprinted down, until we were in front of a small, secretive, door.

I gagged as a dirty finger accidently touched the inside of my mouth.

Before I knew what I was doing I instinctively clamped my teeth around the hand over my face and bit as hard as I could; I choked as I tasted the bitter, metallic, taste of blood in my mouth as my teeth tore into the goon's hand.

He howled in pain as he quickly released my face to cradle his injured hand. The other man behind me tightened his grip on my arms and twisted them painfully behind my back.

I hissed in pain as I could felt hot breath next to my ear when the goon behind me leaned in to whisper something into my ear while the other one angrily shot me dirty looks.

_"Now then, play nice girly and we would hurt you too much"_ he hissed.

I tried in vain to twist around and spit in the bastard's face but his grasp on my arms prevented me from even shooting him dirty looks of my own. The next thing I knew I was being ushered through the now opened door.

"_Omph!"_ I was thrown onto the floor, face first, again.

"_Ow…"_ I mumbled as I sat up and rubbed my nose; thankful it hadn't been broken again.

I glanced upwards to see myself sitting before a large darkly painted wooden desk; every inch of space was covered by sky-scraping piles of glittering metal coins and lofty stacks of paper bills that were strewn everywhere.

I blinked in confusion as I sat on my legs and stared at the money piled desk, wondering why in the world these goons had taken me in here.

Being so preoccupied between confusion and a heated ongoing glaring contest between her and the thug that had been bitten earlier she didn't notice another set of grubby eyes intently watching her every move and hungrily roamed over her body.

I shivered as I suddenly felt another presence of eyes boarding holes into the back of my head.

"_Is this the one, boss?"_ the goon I hadn't been glaring at spoke up as he addressed a shadowed man I hadn't noticed sitting behind the desk.

I turned away from my staring contest as I attempted to shuffle away from the rough thug behind me only for him to lunge for me and drag me to him by my long hair.

I snarled in anger and pain as I fruitlessly tried to break away from his iron grip on my scalp.

"_Hmm? I can't see her face idiot, stand her up!"_ a nauseatingly scratchy voice commanded sharply.

The goon's grip on my scalp loosened somewhat before he pulled me forcefully up to his own stature; I retorted with a scream of pain as I was dangled a foot or two by my thick tresses and forced me to face a grimy, shady, looking man sitting behind the huge piles of money overflowing from his desk collection.

The man leaned forward on his hands as he peered at the young girl before him. Suddenly calloused hands shot out to harshly grip my chin which held me still as the repulsive face leered closer and the man's muddy eyes scrutinized my features intently as he twisted my face from side to side.

"_Well you're not hot but you're definitely an exotic looking thing aren't you?"_ he seemed to analyzing me out loud as he gripped my chin harder than necessary and brought my face closer to his.

I felt like sick enough to vomit all over his stomach churning face from the spite and terror that was brewing in my gut.

_"I mean look at this hair, these dark little flecks all over the face, and that matching wired eye color, Ha! Not from around these parts at all!"_ he laughed, pushing me backwards as he released me.

The goon dangling me by my hair simply exchanged his grip on me for my waist while his partner began tying thick braids of rope around my wrists.

I momentarily stopped struggling against them once the wound on my back started to burn.

The greasy man turned to me as he swiveled around in his chair; his greasy black hair shined in the dim lights as he seemed to be analyzing something again.

I briefly let my mind wonder over just what kind of profession this man must be running as I analyzed him as well; his attire consisted of a cheap, black, pinstriped business suit he wore and various golden rings of different shades that were ruined into his pudgy fingers.

'**If this guy is dealing with people like the Akatsuki in this shabby little hell hole he must be someone with a lot of reputation…hmm maybe a loan shark?** I contemplated.

"_So little hoar, what are you to the men you're traveling with?"_ My eyebrows furrowed as I consider this suicidal man's choice of words.

"_Are you some brothel bitch or are you worth something a bit more?"_ he smirked smugly at his bold statement but frowned when he didn't received the fearful reaction he was searching for.

He got a harsh glare in reply.

Fully rising up to his unimpressive height he strolled over to me, stopping once he was directly in front of me before he leaned down in front of my face. I stared at his piggish features for a moment in silent rage as my anger rose to newfound heights once I realized what he was referring me as.

"_Well…?"_ he pressed as he began pulling something from his coat pocket; my eyes flicked wearily to his hands.

A slapping sound echoed off the walls and pain bit into my cheek as I averted my gaze from his waist pocket to facing the wall. It took me a few seconds to fully realize my head was titled toward the side from the loan shark's blow to my face. He leaned back to hit me again.

'**Big mistake...' **I mentally chuckled as I twisted my lips into a whirly and vicious smirk as I licked my dry and cracked lips.

In a flash I whipped my head forward and lunged the best I could while being bound; I was rewarded with the satisfying sound of the grease ball's scream of pain and the revolting coopery taste of blood again as I bit deeply into his outstretched hand.

He paused to hold his bleeding appendage before he flashed his eyes to me in rage and growled savagely as I maintain my silence, mostly due to shock.

He quickly tore me away from his lackey's grip and hauled me off my feet before he shoved his face barely a few inches from mine; his rancid breath washed over me in waves and I gagged in reflex at the putrid stench.

"_Do you understand how you're worth can save me from the bounty on my head? Do you? Do you understand me you little dumb hoar!_ He barked rapidly, his spit flying into my face as he began violent shaking me. I looked at him in disbelief as I realized he had hit me.

'**He didn't just slap me he punched me… in the face!'** I mentally paused **'Twice!'** I gawked as a whirling mass of emotion exploded within my chest; my hands clenched into fists as I begun to see red dots dancing within my vision.

"_Answer me you little bitch!"_ he roared as he drew his fist back and snapped it forward; I closed my eyes as I anticipated the oncoming blow directed towards my eye socket.

The blow never came.

Instead in the next instance I heard multiple thumps all and the floor creek beneath me and I felt a bit of warm liquid splash onto my face.

My eyes quickly snapped open once I heard an absolutely horrifying wail of anguish that indicated the level of severe pain from its owner; the siren like scream had harshly assaulted my eardrums and permanently left an gruesome echo within my subconscious that I'm sure would forever plague my nightmares.

Another voice abruptly filtered into my frozen perception as I turned my head slightly in a daze towards the new comers standing within the cramped doorway.

My vision was still a bit fuzzy and my mind spin from the harsh and direct blows I so graciously received to my head; not to mention the manic shriek that had rattled my teeth and probably exploded my poor eardrums to a bloody pulp.

Though I seriously doubt anything deaf or not couldn't have heard the snide yet heated comment that an extremely familiar male voice had bellowed out from across the dingy little room.

"_Oi you filthy bastard, drop the bitch she belongs to us!"_

Blinking away my grogginess I quickly made sense of the silver, black and red blob that I could sense an extreme amount of annoyance and arrogance from as none other than the Akatsuki's masochist immortal member.

"_Speak of the devil and he shall appear"_ I rasped out in an amusement yet bitter tone at the interesting timing Hidan had for conveniently showing up the way he did; he glared slightly at me for my snide comment.

Glancing over towards the man Hidan was addressing my vision was abruptly assaulted with a very disturbing yet confusing sight.

I was still being dangled in the air by the meaty grip the loan shark held on the collar of my shirt and was still poised to punch the living day lights out of me, but where his hand should have been crushing into my already bruising face, there was only a empty gap.

My brain refused to process the gory image just inches in front of my face while I blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of the massive mess of pink muscles that were mixed with cherry red arteries and deep pulsing veins of purplish or teal color that weaved around a bright, bleached, chalk white bone; the whole colorful mass seemed to drown itself in bright fluids of maroon and crimson shades in a matter of seconds.

"_It looks like something out of my science textbook, back home at school" _I mused faintly as my jaw particularly unhinged itself in shock and disgust as understanding dawned on me.

I didn't have time to finish my train of thought on anatomy 101 as the man, still surprisingly strong, spun me around and into a chokehold; with his injured arm now securely encompassing my throat he squeezed hard, until I could barely wheeze in a breath.

Trying to the best of my ability to ignore the increased burning within my lungs I was forced by the choke hold on my neck to face downwards to the ground.

My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my skull in repulsion and horror as I noticed the discarded human appendage lying casually in a steadily growing puddle of blood, a few feet away from where I now stood.

'**H-His hand!'** I craned my neck to the best of my ability with the death lock he had on my throat to stare in morbid fascination at the bleeding stump he had instead of his hand.

'**They severed his hand clean off!'** I mentally cried in revulsion but strangely enough in trumpet as well as I smirked in revenge at the punishment this goon was receiving_. _

_'_**Wait…when did I get a kick out of other's pain?'** my face fell and the barely noticeable smirk was erased from my features as I mulled over my twisted thoughts. My eyes widened in anger and fear but not of the jerk holding me in a chocking death grip.

'_I'm not like them!'_ I mentally wailed as I continued to fight the hardest I could with my wrists being tightly bound behind me; I noticed quickly when the loan shark reached into his coat pocket to retrieve something shiny and metallic.

It didn't occur to me what it may have been until I felt a stinging sensation biting into my pulsing throat, extremely close to my pounding jugular vein.

"_Are you stupid or deaf Gozobora?" _I heard a deeper voice questioned this time; this voice sounded dangerously annoyed.

Kakuzu, naturally.

I felt this man, Gozobora? quickly shuffle backwards as he dragged me along with him; terrified of the now two very peeved members of an infamous criminal organization.

I noticed that with every passing second his grip was getting weaker as blood squirted painfully from the arteries in his open wrist like a fountain; I quickly realized an upcoming opportunity to escape that was forming before my eyes.

After a moment I felt the knife rip more into the pale flesh of my throat and hot liquid run down my neck and past my collarbone and all hesitation to put my half baked plan into attack was thrown out the window as I abruptly realized if I didn't make a move to save myself, that I would be dead very soon.

I dipped my head to stare at the bloodied floor as I let my hair shield my expressive eyes.

Under the shade of my bangs I squeezed me eyes shut and I furrowed my brow in concentration as I tried to think of a plan that wouldn't leave me with my throat cut.

My eyes abruptly snapped open and displayed the small flame of determination settling within the pit of my stomach.

I had a plan.

I took a deep breath to fuel that fire burning in my belly in preparation of my next move and then without a second thought of doubt I twisted myself enough in his grasp in order to turn around and slam my foot deep into my kidnapper's groin.

* * *

Kakuzu and Hidan watched as the suicidal man refused to listen to their angry demands and instead held out a dagger as he issued a silent threat to loop the girl's head off if they move closer to the frazzled man that had unconsciously backed himself into the wall.

In that moment Kakuzu felt his annoyance grow tenfold as his narrow range of tolerance shattered.

**'First he thinks he can get away with bargaining for a few extra hours then he thinks he can bargain with my property for my MONEY!'** his eyes narrowed murderously.

_"You think you can bargain with me for what is mine, Gozobora?"_ he question, undaunted by how close he was to receiving his leader's wrath if harm were to befall the girl.

He took a step forward only to have the terrified loan shark took a step back keeping the distance.

He suppressed the overwhelming urge to run his prey and in turn his captive both through with his chakra threads and chanced a quick look at his partner's expression.

His eyes were narrowed murderously in annoyance as well but suddenly his amethyst eyes became trained in on something that seemed to capture his attention.

Following his partner's pointed gaze he was directed towards the girl's face and he too noticed the strange occurrence.

Her eyes were closed and her brow was creased as she appeared to be deep in thought despite the open wound now steadily pouring blood out of her neck.

Abruptly her facial features changed as her eyes snapped open and any other emotion that should have been prevalent in her hazel eyes was washed away in a seemly emotional rush of raw anger while her body language suddenly seemed to become clam and calculating as opposed to a sniveling and pathetic scared teenage girl they had expected her to be.

Both Akatsuki members watched in bewilderment at how rapidly the small woman's seemly helpless and hopeless demeanor had changed completely from terrified to a bone chilling storm of rage.

**'She's planning something…interesting'** Kakuzu made a mental note of the girl's strange behavior for a later time as he addressed his partner in a nonchalantly way.

_"Hidan…"_ he let his sentence trail off as he noticed the small glare that was thrown his way by his aggravating, masochistic, partner was enough for him to confirm that they were both onto the same idea.

They both watched the girl as she dipped her head; her bangs covered her intensely focused eyes. She seemed oblivious to the chaos around her as she sucked in a deep breath and moved against Gozobora's grip with the viciousness of a wild animal. That was there cue.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed it! Remember to comment if i'm doing something you think i could spruce up a bit on or review to give me some ideas or feed back! As well, thank you to those that have stayed with this stroy so far and reviews! I appreciate every word of feedback you all give to me; it makes me all happy and stuff and strive to get these chapters out as early as i can. (Without it being a complete fail) So best of holidays to you all who have read this chapter and a very happy new year! XD


	13. Chapter 12

Hey everybody thank you all again for adding this story to alerts and favorites lists and those that gave out reviews. I promise i'll the get the ball rolling on more important things but i had wanted to pan out this event i had started in the previous chapters. Btw there will be no lemons or anything like that. I know with what happens to Amanda during this chapter( No spoilers! ;D) is no joke and I'm only using it as a plot thickener so please if you are offened I apolgize in advance. sO on with the show!

* * *

Chapter 12:

I kicked backwards as hard as I could where the sun doesn't shine, at my kidnapper behind me and only a second later did I feel him briefly doubled over in pain behind me;

"_I am not a hoar you jackass!"_

His seemingly weaken hostage roared into the man's face.

The raging girl completely missed the split second look on both the Akatsuki members' faces. One was frozen priceless in shock and the other in faint amusement.

Once I had successfully kneed the man behind me I noticed movement from across the room as Kakuzu lifted his sleeves to allow out a massive wave of slow slithering chakra threads from his wrists and Hidan had begun taking long quick strides over to me and the loan shark.

I gulped once I noticed his grip tighten around his scythe slightly with every step as he approached closer.

Wow, I couldn't really tell who I was supposed to be afraid of more my recent kidnaper or my previous ninja kidnappers.

As Gozobora was still leaned over he noticed the girl's quick eyes avert behind her as she was momentarily distracted by her incoming ninja assistance.

Seizing the opportunity while he was still kneeled over from the unexpected and vicious assault on his family jewels; the loan shark lunged again for the girl with all planning and rationality being thrown to the wind as he sought out his only bargaining chip; which is why he didn't notice the quick sideways punch that was hurled towards his face.

I saw him lunging for me again; I had no time to think as my dominant instincts that I didn't even realize I had took over for me.

My arm shot out as I twisted myself forward and delivered a quick round house punch to the man's jaw with every ounce of strength I had left.

I froze as I heard the distinct sound of something ramming itself into flesh, and then a loud crack that vibrated against my burning hand once I had felt something break under my knuckles.

The disturbing sound of bone cracking wasn't what stopped my advance or even my escape as I pulled away from Gozobora but instead I paused as I registered a harsh pinch and icy coldness that numbly engulfed my right hand.

A knowing, insane smirking face of the loan shark suddenly vanished from my line of vision as I saw thick black strains drag him away and viciously throw the man on top of the enormous money piled desk.

The sound of the wooden desk being cracked in half with another simultaneous cracking noise that I couldn't quite identify made me intensely queasy as I took a guess of what that particular noise was from.

As I looked on at the scene, I suddenly felt a large hand garbed the back of my shirt collar once Hidan had begun yanking me none too gently towards the door and out of the room; I didn't protest as I watched in mute horror at the violence Kakuzu was displaying so openly.

Stumbling through the threshold of the door I turned around again only to wince as I watched another bloody and gruesome assault on the loan shark; I paled in fear and pity for the horrifying punishment I could only be left to image this poor guy would be dealt with.

My view was promptly blocked off by a warm, red and black cloth that was so close that it tickled my nose as it brushed against my face.

I jumped as I heard the beginning of a blood chilling scream and then the incredibly hard slam of the wooden door that only vaguely muted the screaming to any passing buyer's so it could be mistaken for any kind of screaming; but I knew better.

'**Just what on earth is Kakuzu doing to him?'** I shuddered and squeezed my eyes shut in horror as I tried to shake away the previous image of Gozobora's open, amputated, wrist that played fort within my mind like some kind of gushing red waterfall.

I didn't open my eyes as I felt someone grab my smaller wrist and guide me away from the gut clutching screams and stomach turning crackling sounds that it seemed only I could pick up from behind the small door underneath the bar's stairs across the noisy brothel.

I dropped on my knees to the dirty floor as I succumbed to my weariness and clapped my hands over my ears as I tried to tune everything out; the screams, the images, the brothel, everything.

I heard a far off disgruntled curse above me and felt someone hoist my waist upwards so I could stay standing on my feet without falling over from exhaustion.

I couldn't really tell how long I shuffled around on my numbed feet until I felt the hard hand shove me down onto a stone bench.

I felt someone stand just in front of my seated body and suddenly I felt a warm fist gently rest on top of my dirty hair and apply pressure to my head in an awkward yet comforting gesture.

I didn't open my eyes or speak to the person before me as I let my thoughts consume my mind in a downwards spiral.

"_Hey"_ I blinked as lifted my head upwards timidly once I felt the pressure on my head started to become a bit painful as Hidan tried to get my attention.

Opening my eyes I looked up into dark violet pupils that watched me wearily.

"_Are you all right kid?"_ Hidan questioned as he removed his fist and sat down on the bench next to me. I turned to look at him in confusion by his almost human actions as I nodded my head mutely in response.

He watched my expression for a few tense seconds until I saw his eyes narrowed deeply in annoyance after a moment and he spoke again; this time his voice was icy.

"_How did you end up out of that damn room? Could have sworn it was locked and you were out cold bitch"_ he snapped as I tried not to wince at his question as I contemplated how to answer him without getting my ass handed to me.

I was quiet for a moment as I took up some courage to glance back over to his frosty glare, and then I spilled everything.

"_I woke up and you guys were gone" _I mused as I shrugged my shoulders sheepishly _"After a while someone well kind of…well knocked… and I think I… open it for them?"_ at this comment Hidan's face was priceless as he gawked at my explanation in a half amused and half furious façade.

"_You…opened it for them?" _he repeated slowly as I tried unsuccessfully not to show I was afraid of his blank face.

"_Yes?"_ I questioned hoping to god it was the right answer and that I wouldn't be decapitated in the next few seconds. I saw him moved towards the huge scythe strapped to his back out of the corner of me eye and I held my hands out in protest.

"_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I really thought it was you or Kakuzu but it turned out to be that guy's two thugs_!" I yelped as I ducked the fist aimed to take my head off when it stopped abruptly an inch or two in before my nose. Apologizing to a criminal like Hidan, what am I going insane?

"_What do you mean you though it was us you stupid cunt? We would have just opened the damn door, not fucking knock_!" He yelled at me.

I had no idea why or where it can from, something inside of me at those words snapped and I felt all the feelings of anger, fear, rage, disgust, and sadness from everything from all I had experienced up to this point explode like a tsunami within my body and I felt this unhealthy mix of emotions pour out of my soul like a gaping wound.

My face went livid as I shoved his fist harshly away from me and jabbed a finger directly in his face as I slowly emphasized my words with each jab I pointed at him.

"_I am not a __**CUNT**__!"_ I snarled; poison lacing every one of my words as I could feel myself go off on a tangent.

"_I am not a hoar, bitch, or cunt, or whatever! I'm sick of everyone calling me a hoar just because I'm being forced along with you guys everywhere you go because you and your god forsaken organization decided to kidnap me when I did absolutely nothing wrong!"_ I yelled as I stood up and threw my arms up in frustration.

He remained silent and seated on the stone bench as he watched the girl's before him unstable emotional explosion unsure of whether to kill her on the spot or let the girl finish.

Amanda's voice dropped an octave lower but it still pierced the festive night noise like a knife that still held all the viciousness of a raging, wounded, animal.

"_I'm sick of getting the shit beat out of me just because I'm stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time all the time. First I wake up to torture in the middle of nowhere in some psycho hospital; then lethal injections by the insane doctors; kidnapping; the sound ninja; kidnapping and torture again by you, blondie, weasel, fish fingers and the rest of your god forsaken organization; and then some more kidnapping by some random thug that decides to get in on the action of trying to assault me because he thought that I was some kind of hoar because he just happened to see me with you guys!"_ I paused as I huffed and leaned on my knees to catch my breath, I winced as pain in my right hand shot up with that same icy feeling up my forearm but this time I ignored it.

I grunted as I stood up completely and left a flabbergasted Hidan staring after me as I ran away and into the festival night.

After a few moments I felt lightheaded and I really couldn't walk that well; after walking past a couple twists and turns I finally blended into a thick thong of people and I sighed in relieve.

I knew Hidan or Kakuzu would soon being looking for me but I chose to care less as I plopped back down onto another stone bench as I leaned my fevered head against the cold, smooth stone; deciding that they could give me whatever punishment they wanted in the morning if they found me.

'**Wishful thinking, huh?' **I snorted at my ridiculous plan as I tried to relax and forget the spinning chaos I had been pulled into.

I sat alone in silence for a while as I focused every one of my senses on the festival going on around me.

Pulling my bruised knees up to my chest I watched the beautiful array of colorful lantern lights sway in the wind with the all shades of deep red, creamy white, skylight blues, forest greens, sun bright yellows, and any other colors under the sun imaginable as they all hung around on thick black ropes scattered over the little village like multicolored clouds.

The villagers seemed to be glad to be alive and having fun as people in all different attires from casual shirts and pants to the people dressed more formally frolicked around in a variety of festival shows and games that kept them entertained.

Dancers and other women alike were dressed almost like geishas in long grabs of silky kimonos of every different colors, lengths, and patterns as they walked around contently; some were mothers with their children; others were teens mostly within large gossiping groups; and many were other women who were lounging happily on the arms of their dates.

I watched a multitude of children and teenagers scurry past me in casual and a few in very fancy clothes as they played all the various carnival games and amongst each other, only stopping to find their parents and beg them for more money to play games or buy food from the many different street vendors.

My mouth watered as I the wind blew my way and I smelled the various spices and flavors of the numerous exotic dishes that were being enjoyed all around by the native Japanese type culture of this world.

My stomach growled and burned painfully but I pointedly ignored it, not knowing if I would be able to eat after the incidents that had just transpired and the gruesome images that still danced around my head like one of the twirling geishas every time I closed my eyes.

'**When was the last time I had an actual meal anyway?'** I was snapped out of my half dozing half sightseeing state as someone garbed my wrist again dragged me forcefully upwards to the owner of the meaty hand.

I was going to ask what is it Hidan what he wanted but a shooting pain ripped through my hand and my eyes widened as I looked at him.

I hissed and as I second reflex I tried scrambling away from this man that was defiantly not Hidan but the stranger's grip on my wrist tighten to the point of threatening to break it as he dragged me on the cold bench over to him again.

I went rigid as the pain in my hand burned every time I moved it. I heard him mumbled a string of words underneath his breath and then he caught my eye which he and took as an opportunity to smile a cheesy lopsided grin.

"_Hello"_ he slurred and I gimmicked. I didn't need to know what the cultural alcoholic beverage around here was to know this guy was tipsy, no wait …he was beyond drunk.

'**He's got to be completely out of it to want to come up to someone who is probably covered in the smell of blood, though the stench of whatever made him as shitfaced as he is now is probably stronger.' **I lifted my head as I cracked one eye open that I had unknowingly closed in pain.

"_Let go of me, I don't even know you and I've dealt with too much right now."_ I snapped in annoyance as I reeled back from the burning stench of alcohol that poured out from his mouth.

"_Hey no need to get snappy babe just wanted to get to know you, if you know what I mean"_ he pretended to pout in rejection but his eyes said differently as they looked me up and down like a piece of meat.

I gimmicked in open disgust at this man's incredibly obvious drunkenness and ignorance at the fact that I was cut and bruised from head to toe; yet here he was hitting on me in the middle of public like it was completely normal to take a girl around back to a brothel and do god knows what to her.

'**Maybe it **_**is**_** normal here, I mean just look at that loan shark and what he wanted to do with you'** some distance yet dark part of my weary mind warned me.

I shuddered as I sized up the man quietly. I suddenly took a different approach to the pestering man before me as I tried to take a more pleasant disposition.

"_Look mister, I don't wanna be rude but can you just please leave me alone?"_ I finished crossly, giving up on concealing the sourness in my tone as I moodily crossed my free arm over my chest.

"_Ah come on, this is a festival kid!"_ he proclaimed in a drunken pep speech as he yanked me forcefully away from my comfortable bench.

"_Lighten up a bit" _he laughed a loud, obnoxious, throaty chuckle as he practically began dragging me across the crowded street while he encouraged me to hastily follow him.

I looked up to see him leading us to a seedy looking part of the village and eventually a very shady looking building down the road.

"_Get off me!"_ I yelled in a panic once I felt his grip on my bruised wrist became too hard and I felt my wrist becoming sticky and wet with my burning blood as I watched it leak steadily from an open slit in my numbed hand.

I hissed as I jerked away from the perverted older man and let the pressure from the man's ever tightening, bone crushing grip on my wrist began to increase the blood flowing from my palm again.

Blood was now pouring out onto the dirt street at an even faster pace from the slit that had transformed into a grizzly hole that had punctured through the center of my hand.

'**That bastard loan shark, that's why he was smirking like an idiot, he still had that knife with him! He must have stabbed me when I punched him."**

My eyes widened in disbelief at how I could have completely missed the obvious and possibly fatal wound to my right hand.

**'He went to stab my right hand to stop me but he didn't count on me punching him with my left hand.' **I realized.

'**But the adrenaline is wearing off'** I moaned as I felt my body begin to burn and ache from the many different cuts and bruises I had just recently received from my previous scuffle at the bar.

"_I really hope Kakuzu beat the crap out of him" _I mumbled.

"_I really want you to meet some of my friends; we can show you a good time-Ack!"_ He yelled as I tried to knee the stumbling man in the groin area but surprisingly he quickly sidestepped my assault and I stumbled forward from my momentum.

The hand holding my wrist twisted my arm behind my back at an excruciating angle and held me from falling onto my face.

I chocked back a sob as the pain in my hand and back that I had tried so hard to suppress had begun to sap what little strength I had left after the night's previous events that had already worn out my aching limbs and sent that all too familiar feeling of fire running up and down my spine.

I shook my head wildly as my world began to become fuzzy and disoriented; my body began to go into a numbly cold sweat and my hand had begun to fell particularly icy.

I resisted the dark churning waves of my mind that begged me to give up and fall into an unconscious bliss; the last thing I wanted to happen was to pass out with this violent, drunken, and obviously horny man in the middle of the deserted alley he had started to drag me to.

Suddenly the shadows of the alley seemed to move and shift and abruptly four rough silhouettes that I could barely make out against the moon's light appeared not a few feet before me.

"_Hey who is this one?"_ one man, I realized that was one of the drunkard's friend, called over to his partner behind me.

"_A little lady that needs to be shown a __**good **__time, if you know what I mean boys" _he jeered as he shoved the girl forward onto her knees as he proudly displayed his captive like a boastful child showing off his new toy.

Ignoring the bastard as he force me onto my feet again I instantly noticed something sliver glistening as it caught the muted light of the red paper lantern that hung above the shady alleyway.

I tried to glance wearily behind me at the shiny metal that I could see shining from the corner of my eye as the man restraining me shifted and the object of my interest followed with the movements of his arm.

I gulped as I glanced around the grimy, abandoned, passageway that was bathed in a maroon shade that encompassed only me, my assaulter, and apparently his friends that had just arrived; and no one else.

"_Oh come on, not another knife. I don't want to be stabbed twice in the same night."_ The man wordlessly began herding me towards the seedy building yet again that I was sure was a hoar house from the disturbing and disgusting noises I could hear from within even though I only stood on the street.

His friends followed and as we all neared the building a few of the men began taunting me and then they began grabbing random parts of my body lustfully.

I snarled as my terror took a backseat and the rage I could feel churning in my gut exploded as one hand grabbed my ass and began harshly groping it.

I knew I succeeded in landing a kick on one of the shadowed specter frisking me as I heard a low grunt of pain and I felt the hands on my but quickly retreat as the man retracted his hand and disappeared somewhere behind me with a snarl.

I pretended to trip slightly from fatigue and got the man holding me to stumble as well for a split second before he righted both of us and jabbed me not so discreetly in the ribs in annoyance at my supposed clumsiness.

It didn't matter to me as I accomplished want I wanted. I watched intently as the metal thing around his bicep slid forward as it unloosed itself from the sloppy knot I had noticed it was tied in into, and metal forehead protector gleamed in my limited vision with a worn village trademark symbol carved neatly into the metal framework.

My heart seemed to stop dead and even though I couldn't remember the last time I ate I felt a fierce urge to vomit as my stomach sank like a stone to my feet.

"_S-Sound ninjas" _I choked out in horror as I looked up at the various men that had now surrounded me and my throat went dry as a bone.

The distracted, lopsided grin etched onto my captor's face instantly disappeared and was immediately replaced by a malicious smirk.

"_So you know your stuff, eh girl?" _he stopped suddenly as he leaned down to brush his hot breath over my blood encrusted neck, right where Gozobora succeeded in nicking me with his knife.

He chuckled darkly as I felt a fist slowly tangle itself in my scalp and then tighten into a fist. I bit my tongue as I resisted the urge to scream in pain again as my head was jerked violently backwards by the roots of my hair. I felt a nose dig deep into the bloodied crock of my neck,

"_You smell good I like the smell of blood"_ the sound nin purred as he sighed and inhaled the skin of my throat greedily; I could faintly hear the other men laugh at their partner's drunken foolishness but my ears drowned out any other sounds other than the pounding of my heart.

My mouth was open in a silent scream as my pupils dilated in absolute terror at the fear that clutched my chest. Like a doe in a pair of headlights Amanda stood transfixed by the horror of what she knew was coming, but unable to escape the incoming certainty of death.

'**No, No, No…'**

I repeated over and over again within my mind as I some part of me that was free of shock was mentally sobbing the same word like a broken record somewhere.

'**I'm so damn stupid! I abandoned my only means of protection in a stupid and worthless hissy fit over things that were beyond my control or reach! Damint! mom...everybody I'm so sorry…i tried so hard to find a way home' **

My breathes hitched and then came out in short sobs and pants as I felt random hands groping me violently and the gross and unfamiliar feeling sped up my heartbeat and caused said vital organ to began slamming furiously against my ribcage in alarm and panic.

I gulped down breathes of icy air that were soured by the overwhelming, putrid stench of alcohol and the taste of my salty tears as they fell into my mouth. I sucked in the deepest amount of air my lungs could hold before I leaned my head back as far as I could; much like I had done in the insane hospital; and screamed to the open night air for all I was worth.

"_Anybody, Somebody, Hidan, Kakuzu, __**HELP ME!**_

* * *

The suffocating stench of gore and the immensely strong coppery scent of blood wavered into the night air as Kakuzu walked calmly out of the underground brothel house.

Wiping away some flecks of blood and meat from uniform cloak, he looked around as he searched for his partner as he hid the last remnants of a twisted smirk underneath his mask.

He had gotten what he came for and much more. He heaved the large sack of money over his shoulder possessively as he contemplated his most recent spree of carnage within the false inn behind him.

"_Much more than forty percent; you did indeed fulfill your debt even if you tried to double cross me Gozobora." _

Kakuzu let loose a dark, deep, chuckle to the stagnate night air as he walked down a shaded path leading towards the festival.

He stalked like a shade passed the various villagers that were so ignorant of the monster lurking a few feet away from them as he sought out his partner and their ward that was no doubt with him.

If he had recalled correctly, Hidan had dragged the girl out of the room before he could began slowly torturing the loan shark for attempting to double cross him and to acquire any information he held that could be useful.

'**Good, I don't need a traumatized brat to deal with when Hidan is enough as it is**.' Kakuzu mused to himself as he growled in annoyance at the girl they were assigned to watch over.

He much preferred to see if he could sell her off for the highest bitter due to her odd and exotic features somewhere but even he knew that no matter how aggravating the girl would be it would still be suicidal and incredibly foolish to go against leader sama's orders; besides if leader sama was correct then her supposed abilities could be very useful to their organization goals if she actually holds a power that can rival the bujis.

'**She also makes good bait for the wrong kind of people'** he mused begrudgingly as he commented on the incredible amount of nattiness she held towards her surroundings that was constantly prevalent on her expressional face.

Reaching out with his senses, Kakuzu paused as he quickly picked up on Hidan's dark chakra signature streaming out from the large crowd directly ahead.

He frowned once he couldn't sense another chakra signature beside his annoying, immortal, masochist of a partner but he quickly recalled a vital yet odd side effect of the girl's abilities that she had mention previously at the base.

'**No chakra means no chakra signature. Shit this is really going to complicate things.' **He quickened his pace once he saw his partner's shock of slivery hair a couple of meters away.

As he approached he noticed his partner lingered off to the side of the immensely crowded street under the shadows of a random stall sign and was watching the crowd with an annoyed scowl plastered across his features and his crimson eyes narrowed as he squinted in the distance ever few moments.

Hidan paused in his fruitless search as he felt Kakuzu step up in place behind him and he turned around to meet the satisfied glare that was always prevalent upon his partner's face once he had a successful amount of bloodshed.

He quickly took in the sight of a large bulging burlap sack slug over Kakuzu shoulder and the over powering yet comforting metallic stench of fresh and old crusted blood emanating from his partner in crime.

"_You old heathen bastard you went on a fucking rampage without me!"_ Hidan accused even more jaded by this new development as he pointed his finger childishly at Kakuzu.

Ignoring the whining Jashinist, Kakuzu slowly looked around as he glanced around him and Hidan; he didn't see that tell tale flash of exotic features of their captive from the crowd either.

He took one last glance around as his eyes lingered over the swarming mass of bodies just outside the shadows longer than a few seconds before his green pupils flashed dangerously over to Hidan and he narrowed his red eyes murderously at the immortal before him.

"_Where is the brat Hidan?" _he spoke slowly as a thick underlying tone of budding anger that threaten to ignite itself into a burning inferno empathized itself greatly his questioned.

"_What? Oh yea that…" _he trailed off as an unreadable expression crossed over his face. He quickly replaced the foreign emotion with a more trademark smirk of arrogance.

_"Tech, it wasn't my fault the little wrench got angry and stormed off like the bitch she is"_

"_Just what happened exactly?"_ Kakuzu questioned as he maintained his clam and resisted the urge to main the closest person he could get his threads around; Hidan seemed more and more like the perfect candidate at that moment.

He shrugged his shoulders annoyed as the same flicker of unreadable emotion gleamed in his eye again.

"_She was quiet at first but then snapped at me about calling her bitch and then started whining about all the stupid shit she had to gone through and then exploded on me in a full out hissy fit before storming off somewhere.."_

_" And you just let here leave!"_

Kakuzu cut off Hidan's pathetic explanation in mid sentence as an urge to rip off the zombie ninja's head.

Hidan growled _"I was going to go get her after she would blow off her fucking top and clam down a little but I lost here when she ran into the horde over there and then the shitting icing on the cake was that I can't remember what her chakra signature feels like." _

The air around him turned icy but he was nonplussed even though various people in a twenty foot radius could feel a sharp fiery cold.

"_**You Let Her Escape"**_He seethed out.

Hidan snarled in retaliation_ "Damn it Kakuzu it not like I let her escape I just loss the fucking brat! Besides, I figured since you were the one to stitch her back up you must remember what her chakra signature felt like again." _

Hidan suddenly looked nervous as he spied a strange look over come Kakuzu._ "What? What are you looking at me that way for?" _

"_Your brain dead from having your body mutilated all the time from your fake rituals because you have the memory span of an insect" _Hidan opened his mouth in rage to yell that he would kill him but Kakuzu cut him off yet again.

"_She doesn't have any chakra remember, we won't be able to track her at all unless we can visibly see her." _He summed up as Hidan lowered his scythe in disbelief_. _

"_Shit now what then! She could be out of this village already and it will be hard to find her in the forest in the middle of the fucking night". _Kakuzu scowled behind his mask as Hidan proved a good point; they could have lost here already.

"_She couldn't have found her way out of the village just yet and I doubt she would be stupid enough to run out into the forest in the middle of the night." _

He turned to glare intently at the crowds before them; it would be like finding a needle in a hay stack.

_"We will split up and divide our search. I'll start with north and continue into the western parts of the village, you can cover the south and the east."_ He called over his shoulder as he began to stalk away again.

"_Got it"_ Hidan grouched out as he watched his partner walk off. Kakuzu paused briefly and looked over his shoulder at his obviously wound up partner and remarked as an afterthought,

"_You know, If leader sama catches wind of her escape he will castrate you."_

"…_Fuck you"_

* * *

After a long and fruitless search of the southern section of the village Hidan had ditched walking around amongst the sickly happy villagers and festival goers and instead was speeding across the various tiled and stone rooftops of the little village that he and Kakuzu were combing out.

He channeled his pent up restlessness and frustration to his leg muscles as he glided from roof to roof; landing with a ninja's ease and experience without making a sound.

Normally if he was this aggravated he would postpone if not ignore his mission completely in search of one or two ritual sacrifices he could make to Jashin sama, or five.

He huffed to the cold night air as he stopped on top another slanted apartment roof to stare down at a particularly thick crowd of people.

He frown only deepened as he couldn't pick out his target.

Fucking shame he was hard pressed for time he or else he would have loved to go a religious homage of murders for his murderous God.

"_Damn that little sentimental shit, why did she have to get that damn pissy and run off?" _

"_**I'm sick of getting the shit beat out of me just because I'm stuck in the place at the wrong time all the time"**_his violet eyes widened ashe almost tripped in midstride when her words unexpectedly echoed from his subconscious memory_. _

**What the fuck…?' **he wondered as a feeling brewed in his gut at the unwelcome reminder of the conversation they had on the park bench.

Whatever this feeling was it only gnawed at his insides and confused him; it was defiantly a new experience from the common feelings of boredom, annoyance, and sadistically glee he got from performing his rituals that he normally experienced daily.

It was a foreign emotion, one that he was sure he hadn't felt in years or even at all for that matter.

"_**I'm sick of everyone calling me a hoar just because I'm being forced along with you guys everywhere you go because you and your god forsaken organization decided to kidnap me when I did absolutely nothing wrong!" **_he paused fully, now over an alleyway as he slowly connected the pieces of memory and it clicked for him just what this emotional pain in his side was.

'_Guilt…guilty' _he could barely believe himself as he stood stunned at these new found emotions toyed around in his mind and caused him to feel like he had just received a well deserved punch to the face.

**'No way... no fucking way!'**

"_There is no way in hell I'm going to feel guilty over hurting that stupid bitch's feeling!"_ he thundered in disgust at the nighttime sky as he pushed all his thoughts out the window for the moment and got set to jump to another set of roof tops in front of him.

Man, he felt the strongest urge to go maim some heathen ninja right now as he coiled his muscles in anticipation for another run.

An earsplitting plead stumped him for a blank moment as he gapped at the plaguing voice of his subconscious sounding out in the night like a wounded animal. Crouched over the edge of the alley way his eyes narrowed heatedly and his vision bled crimson as he registered just what he was sure was his ward's terrified scream.

"_Anybody, Somebody, Hidan, Kakuzu, __**HELP ME!**_

He barred his teeth in a malicious snarl as his guilt was exterminated under a blanket of anger and statistical giddiness for bloodshed once he leap down into the abyssal blackness of the alley below.

Apparently his payers to his God for carnage had been answered. 'This ought to be good' he mused as the shadows swallowed up his form and he descendented into the alley.

* * *

So thank you for reading and come again! Please review! Tis like crack, but the good kind...nevermind -_-

Also can someone let me know if maybe I should bump up the rating to M for all the cussing and violence?


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter: 13

All I could feel was fingers and hands all around me. The vile stench of alcohol and the tangy taste of metallic blood in the air made my head reel and my empty gut clench in revulsion. The small crowd of men panted hot breathes of frustration as they circled around the small teenager in their midst, who was failling madly as they all tried to groped and molested her all at once.

I grunted and twisted like a frenzied animal as I struggled desperately to avoid the leering lecherous men around me from get a good grip on my clothes as they attempted to rip them to shreds. My panic and terror escalated as I fought against another meaty pair of hands that were tugging at the helm of the loosely fitting shorts that Konan had given to me on my first night in the Akatsuki base. I hurled so many curses and profanities in my garbled, chocking, screams at the rapists around me that I must have turned myself as blue as Kisame; though many of them looked as red faced as Sasori's hair color.

Amanda chocked as a bitter, dirty, cloth was stuffed into her mouth and down her throat to silence her screaming, or at least muffled them somewhat. My eyes nearly bulged out of my sockets as I registered that the shredded blue cloth stuffed in front of my face was in fact my outermost shirt that I had used as a sort of jacket over the white tank top that Konan had also given me; which I now felt was being yanked over the smooth skin of my abdomen. I yelped as I felt the coldness of the night air wash over my hypersensitive skin and I paused as I saw a small flickering light dance underneath my eyelids.

"**Oh no…"** I paled as I realized the multicolored chakra was activating in the presence of my fear.

If I had tried to hide this from the Akatsuki then I defiantly didn't want these sound ninja's to report my location to the other deadly men who were seeking me out as well.

Suddenly the hands stopped abruptly as they hovered above my waist for a second before falling onto my stomach like a pair of heavy leaded weights and I gagged at the pressure on my convulsing stomach. I snapped my head up to look at a man I hadn't realized that he had crawled on top of me and watched his wide eyes; his pupils were almost as big as mine as he stared down at me.

I quickly noticed the various hands that had been reaching for me had either quickly retreated or had stopped mid way and outstretched with fistfuls of my hair and clothes. Their shock was reflected on their faces as plain as day as their faces were illuminated in a pale light of fear and confusion. I stayed sprawled out on the floor in bewilderment at the strange emotions the group of thugs above me where conveying, they all did nothing more than stare at me and I could feel my eye twitch in weary anticipation at what they might be planning next.

"_What the hell"_ one of the thugs breathed in a shaky yet still husky voice as he stared down at the slightly glowing girl beneath them.

"_Shit! I remember this kid now she's the one that got away from Uchiha back in the sound!" _another men yelled as he reached for a fist full of my hair and preceded to yank me to my scraped knees by the roots of my long bronze hair; I gave up on hiding my pain and shrieked in pain from my burning scalp.

"_Ha, look at that boy's! Two birds with one stone! We can turn in this little bitch to master Orochimaru to get in his good graces after we've had some fun with her."_ The same man who was holding my wrists spoke up greedily as he put his face directly in front of mine.

My breath hitched again in my throat as this new man laughed before aiming for my mouth. I twisted my head to avoid the drunken man's tongue and instead I felt a sloppy wet feeling on my neck as the tongue licked the blood from my neck in small laps not unlike a dog. I cracked open my eyes slightly as I stared into the shadows; praying someone, anyone, would stop them or kill me quickly, either one.

I suddenly saw a glimmer of sliver and red fall quietly into the shadowed alley and a dark blob began to emerge from within the shadows and step farther into the lantern light until it slowly began to materialize into a human figure. My vision had began to become blurry as the bright multi colored lights behind my eyelids increased tenfold once my heart sped up and my world spun around me as I struggled to make out the new person that had just appeared ten feet away.

Amanda's eyes were glossy and glazed over as she had half over her face pressed down into the dirt as the man on top of her flipped her over and her stomach and straddled her back. Her bloodshot eyes had a wild gleam to them yet the fearlessness within her hazy hazel irises was long since gone, and instead her unseeing eyes seemed to be pleading desperately with the darkness she could feel watching her.

The next thing the sound Nins knew was quick silver and red blur had shot out from the darkness and had divided the crowd in half as it wedged itself into the center of their group.

A loud wet splashing noise penetrated the noisy night air as a shower of blood fell all around the horrified sound ninja as their comrade's back was tore open to revile his blenched white spine that was entangled within an enormous red scythe that was firmly lodged within the assaulter's body.

The man stared up at the clouded night sky with his mouth ajar slightly as an immense volume of hot blood poured up from his throat and splattered onto himself and the girl he had pinned under him; a gurgling sound erupted from the dead man's mouth as his eyes bulged and rolled to the back of his head before he fell on top of a semiconscious Amanda.

Everything began to happen so fast it was all a swirling mess of red, black, sliver and purple as my eyes continued to be unfocused. I heard different male voices yelling and eventually screaming in aghast, only to be cut off abruptly with a maniac laughter that rung as vaguely familiar against my eardrums but terrifyingly creepy nonetheless.

'**Where have I heard that laugh before?'** I wondered as my body lay prone underneath the heavy dead weight of the slaughtered sound ninja. It didn't worry me when I couldn't feel the crushing weight of the dead man on top of me, or feel the hot blood teeming over my frozen stiff body and create a crimson puddle beneath me and soaked everything in my vision in a deep, sticky, maroon liquid.

I felt weightless and almost like a feather in wind; it felt so good.

'**This is so wrong but I just don't care anymore. Let the dead body suffocate me and let it be over with' **my wish went unheard as noticed the body being thrown off my still form.

"_Shit, Kakuzu!"_Hidan yelled over to the silently approaching ex-waterfall village ninja as they both took in the disturbing sight that had befallen the young girl they were ordered to watch over.

The kid lay on her stomach in a pool of deep maroon blood and her head was twisted to the side as she seemed to be watching them like with half lidded hazel orbs in a glance similar to one a lifeless corpse gives through unseeing eyes. Kakuzu was careful to avoid the sticky, crimson, puddle surrounding the girl as he knelt down beside her and quickly tore the gag from the child's mouth with a low, animalistic growl and then moved to grab her wrist harshly for a moment. After a moment of trying of fruitlessly searching for the steady beating of a pulse within her wrist, Kakuzu hesitantly pulled her up by her wrist halfway off the ground and her head rolled around limply in his grip with Hidan watching on in dead silence.

'**Is she-'**Kakuzu mused as he watched the stillness of the girl's bulging green jugular vein.

"_Ah shit is she-"_

They both paused in their conclusions as the girl suddenly began to emanate a light misty glow around her bodily outline again. They both took a step away from her as the glowing pulsated violently and then sluggishly in a rapid succession until the light became so strong that it illuminated the dank alley as it mimicked sunlight.

They both held a hand to shield their eyes as the light became so bright to the point of blinding and then abruptly it disappeared, leaving the alley shrouded in shadows once again.

After a loud drawn out moment the sound of Amanda coughing violently broke the thick silence and her body shook with convulsions as each cough ripped through her dry throat. The pair of ninjas watched from a small distance as the girl slowly attempted to pick herself off the ground and only succeeded in getting on her hands and knees as she grip the cracked and jutting wall in order to pull herself up in a hunched over but still standing position. Swallowing twice to dislodge the painfully big lump in my throat I turned slightly and opened my eyes slowly to see Hidan and Kakuzu standing a few feet across the alleyway.

I ignored Hidan as he opened his mouth to say something stupid again as I beat him to the punch.

"_T-they were sound ninjas"_ I informed quietly still in some degree of shock.

"Why did they attack you? Just what the fuck did you do kid?" Hidan barked. I glared at him as I gritted my teeth from the anger and frustration I felt building up inside my sore frame.

"_I told you, I'm always at the wrong place at the wrong time"_ I coughed out as I refused to look at them and instead inspected my discolored clothing with bloodied hands. That made Hidan uncharacteristically quiet and he didn't unleashed any of the rude remarks he had been building up too and even Kakuzu was quiet for a moment as he began pondering something. I caught the ragdoll's eye and he glared hard at me before then appearing directly in front of me with a hair's width between us. I jumped and instantly regretted it once I felt a hard hand clamp down on my stiff shoulder. He leaned down slightly so I meet his intense bright green pupils head on and shook me slightly.

"_You're not telling us something girl"_ My head spun and my heart shuddered in fear as I realized that somehow he knew.

What did I do; what could I do?

_"Alright that guy was just plain drunk_" I began to ramble as I gestured to the almost sawed in half man that had been lying on top of me and somehow had been thrown harshly near the end of the shaded alleyway.

_"But the other guys weren't and so I really don't know what your refering to and yea…"_ I deadpanned as I tried to put on the best clueless face I had at the moment.

It didn't work.

Suddenly I couldn't breathe as Kakuzu lifted me off the ground by my neck and held my up against the wall with one hand.

'**Note to self, never try to outsmart stitches'** I gasped when my lungs had the air knocked out of them and then I began coughing as the light that had engulfed my form when I was with the thugs appeared again and illuminated the deep scars and black, thick, stitching of his exposed wrist in the dimmed light. I could see some of the red hot liquid that I could feel dribbling down the corner of my mouth on his icy hand. I wonder briefly for a moment how he could be that cold if he had so many hearts stashed away inside him, or maybe I have a fever?

"_Spill everything you know or we spill your guts"_ he warned as he tighten his grip on my neck.

"_Gah, I would… If I could… breathe!" _I hissed as I struggled around from the pain of my windpipe crushing in on itself; my vision began to get dark again. He placed me back on the ground but it was already too late and I could feel my mind slipping from me as the power around me began to fade away.

Her alive eyes suddenly dropped and become cloudy; Kakuzu noticed quickly that the girl was about to pass out without her strange powers to keep her awake or conscious. He shook her roughly again to force some answer out of her. Both Akatsuki stopped short as her head dropped to the side and her hair covered most of her face but they caught the faint but clear sentence she managed to mummer out.

"_He's knows and he's after me too."_ I mumbled as I licked the corner of my mouth free of tangy blood and spit.

"_Who is?"_ Kakuzu growled as he felt the kid's body give out and she sighed out an answer before succumbing to her exhaustion.

"…_Orochimaru" _


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Birds chirping in the background and the overwhelming scent of forest foliage were the first senses I awoke to as I shifted ever so slight from my curled fetal position on the soft forest floor.

Sunlight steamed through the thick forest branches and left small rays of light to shine obnoxiously in random moving patches that shifted as the leaves swayed from side to side from up above. Unfortunately for me those patches shifted enough to allow the harsh mid-morning sunlight to attack my drowsy senses and sting the backs of my sleep encrusted eyelids.

I brought my balled fist over my eyes and after mumbling a slur of incoherent words aimed at the too bright sunshine I hesitantly cracked open an eye, afraid of what I might find. My vision blurred over as my pupils constructed against the strong, bright light and I was forced to wait in a few moments of blurry blindness as my eyes dilated to accommodate to my new surroundings. Green grass greeted me as I surged onto my knees and I sat up in confusion.

"_Where am I __**now**__?"_ I mumbled to myself as I cautiously glanced around, feeding my paranoia as I waited for someone to yell and jump out at me.

The sound of rustling had me standing upright in a flash as I whipped my head behind me, towards were I thought the source of the noise was. Swallowing my spike of fear I silently crept towards the noise; looking down constantly so as being extra careful not to snap any twigs and give me away. Stopping not twenty feet from where I was previously I held my breath and crept over a bush to see a familiar figure that stood a little ways away, draped in a red clouded black cloak and casually leaning against a massive tree trunk. Kakuzu stood with his back turned in my general direction and I watched him warily as he greedily counted a large wad of paper bills with a concentrated look in his eyes. I resisted the urge to sigh or to unleash a soft chuckle at his predictable antics.

'_Typical'_ I mused as I quietly shook my head a small smirk wormed its way onto my face. As stealthily as I could I back tracked to the small rock formation I had woken next to and noticed a small brook behind it. I plopped down onto the bank with a small sigh.

'_What the hell happened last night…and why is it so hard to remember?'_ After a few minutes I closed my eyes in defeat and groaned, ready to fall asleep again if no one was going to wake me up. Lazily twisting my head to the side I noticed another Akatsuki cloak lying abandoned on the brook's shore and my curiosity was piped as I noticed a few more suspicious looking splashes of color on it. Coming over closer to it I noticed various faint hues of brown and maroon that dampened the black cloth and frowned.

"'Hidan did a sacrifice already?"

I widened my eyes as I inhaled too much of the overpowering scent of coppery blood and resisted the urge to vomit; though I think I did make a gagging noise in the back of my throat. Looking down at my hands I noticed traces of brown, crusty and sticky substance stuck to my fingertips. Something suddenly clinked and all of the night previous memories came rushing back to me in a blur.

I clapped my hands to my head as my brain throbbed with vivid mental images that had forever seared into my brain. Bowing over in pain, my heart constricted itself painfully as I mentally relivied my memories from last night as they played out to the forefront of my mind like some kind of gory, graphic movie. I gripped the soft blades of grass in a death vice as I envisioned the feelings of hot breath on my clammily skin. The phantom images of the sound nin's hands grappling at my clothes like a pack of wild dogs, tearing at their prey, had me shuddering. I gritted my teeth against the wash of anger and helplessness emotions that consumed my core and I balled my fists as I waited for the mental torture to pass.

Fisting rough fabric rather then what I thought was grass roots I quickly snapped my eyes open. Lifting my head up with a jerk I allowed the sight of a familiar black and red pattern of clouds to consume my vision. Slowly, I let my stiff posture relax as I allowed myself to come back to reality and allow the harsh session of post-traumatic stress vanish. Calming breathing in and out through my clenched teeth, I breathed a sigh of relief knowing I was safe from the sound ninja perusing me for now and ultimately farther away from Orochimaru.

I was safe, I was safe, I was safe…for now.

'_Well as safe as I could get with two deadly S-rank criminals._' I glanced down at the cloak in my grasp and suddenly lifted my head as a peril of estranged laughter escape my throat. What am I, nuts?

'_Ya right, I'm safe? Ha! Probably when I'm six feet under will I be safe.'_

I laughed to myself again at the notion of being comfortable around two murdering psychos that wouldn't spare another second to kill me if they were allowed. Chuckling again I rubbed more of the dried blood that had caked onto my hands between my fingers as I was overcome by another slew of morbid thoughts.

Nothing made logical sense anymore!

My strangely induced amusement was cut short by the intensely strong and uncomfortable feeling of being watched.

* * *

Kakuzu had stopped in the middle of counting his money as he sensed someone coming from behind; he callously pocketed one of his kunai.

'_How the hell did they sneak up on me like that?'_ he growled silently in annoyance as he quickly pocketed his precious money. He could tell that whoever they were, they were trying to keep quiet by their light and careful footfalls. Turning a fraction to his left he noticed someone hiding behind a clump of trees. He waited as they moved a bit closer before realizing it was the kid.

He watched her for a moment realizing that she could plainly see him but didn't realize that he had seen her yet. After a nod of her head, as if she were confirming something to herself, she left as silently as she could though her presence was already discovered moments ago. Grudgingly he trailed after her and back over to the stream he had left her with Hidan.

... speaking of his aggravating masochist of a partner.

"Where the hell is he?" he grounded out, his annoyance spiking ten-fold. Trust the cocky immortal bastard to give their prisoner the chance to escape again.

'_Especially after Orochimaru's henchmen'_ he mused silently to himself as he watched the girl for the majority of her strange seizure of emotions. After another moment he moved to confront her as he stepped away from his observing position but froze in mid step once she uncurled herself from the floor and started emitting a half chocking sound.

'_Is she laughing?_' he blinked. The kid had begun shaking as she laughed a hard, chilling, chuckle that held a thick amount of sarcasm to it. Kakuzu raised an eyebrow.

'_Just what the hell is she laughing __**about**__?'_

Whipping around abruptly the girl cut her dark laughter short and narrowed her eyes cautiously as she stood to face him. She remained unmoving as she glared in his general direction, as if staring at him down with some sort of sixth sense, though he knew she wouldn't be able to spot him from his concealment in the trees. After a moment he stepped out from the shadowed forest and into the sunlight to match hardened glare with glare and almost immediately wide hazel eyes looked down to the ground as she broke her stare.

Kakuzu turned as he noticed his partner's cloak by the riverside, he figured he probably went to wash the blood off somewhere down the river.

"Were leaving" he addressed as he began to walk off. Hearing the hesitant soft padding of feet behind him he confirmed that the child was indeed listening and following him, no matter slow she was.

"…Where is he?" a quiet voice floated up beside him as he noticed the girl had caught up to him. He didn't bother giving the little pest an answer as he kept walking. Frowning Amanda jogged slightly to catch him again.

"… Are we really going to leave him here? She questioned again, her voice a bit louder than before as she attempted to get her warden's attention.

"Hello? Hey? Helllooo?… Kakuzu?"

Blackness suddenly flashed across my vision as his cloak swayed backwards as he wheeled around abruptly to glare with icy green corneas into my skull.

"Be quiet or I'll rip out your voice-box," He threatened angrily, glowering down at me. My throat closed up in fear for a moment and I couldn't even begin to try and say anything in response. After a tense moment he finally turned and continued walking without another word… or threat, leaving me to unleash the longest breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.

"Well…he's one happy camper," I growled under my breath. "Jerk…" I grumbled even softer to myself.

He stopped in mid stride and glared harshly after Amanda from the corners of his blood shot eyes. Her head snapped up and her small mouth snapped shut like a windup toy with an audible click as she caught Kakuzu's deadly glare.

'_Oh hell, did he hear me!_' My breath hitched in my throat in dread. I watched in fear, waiting for the black tentacles to shoot out and kick my tail all the way to Konoha and back.

"Hurry up" He only snapped in aggravation, the annoyance prevalent in his rough voice, before he turned again and continued walking.

Looking out towards the endless forest on all sides Amanda shivered once before glancing down at her nervously shifting her feet. Amanda unleashed another long sigh as her shoulders slummed in defeat before she began reluctantly running after the masked bounty hunter.

_'This is going to be a _long_ day'._

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No"

"…how much farther?"

"…"

"Are we even going anywhere?"

"Shut up now"

"You should take that advice yourself"

"No one fucking asked you Kakuzu!"

"I agree…"

"Shut the fuck up or I'll chop your head off right now bitch!"

"I'm not a bitch you bastard!"

"You little shit!" Hidan yelled as he reached for my neck to strangle me into silence no doubt. Yelping I ducked under his arm and raced forward to walk quickly in stride with an already aggravated stitches. He responded to my antics with a withering glare and for the most part I could see he was still wishing I was unconscious.

Well then, sucks for him.

Yes, the masochistic Jashin worshiper had returned, around mid morning too. Apparently his explanation to his fuming partner was that he had simply went further down the river to wash the dried blood from his ritual scarifies from the previous evening, and, of course, accidently leaving me alone and unconscious on the riverside until I woke up.

Then again that was what I got out of the garbled curses he shouted out as he jumped and dodged to avoid Kakuzu's attacking tentacles as I watched scared out of my mind from behind a tree a safe distance away from the two quarreling ninjas. I tried as hard as I could to keep from laughing as Hidan, swearing up a storm that would make sailors turn bright red in embarrassment, ended up being impaled to a couple of trees by some Kunai and other shuriken.

"Dammit Kakuzu! Get me down from here you ****hole! I'll sacrifice your heathen **** to Jashin! Let go of me– What are you laughing about bitch!" Hidan howled as his magenta orbs burned at mine in anger.

Sniggering to myself at Hidan's fuming face I accidently caught his eye and I awkwardly shrugged my shoulders in mock sympathy to his situation before walked off to follow Kakuzu, who had left Hidan strung up on the tree without a second thought. He still shouted death threats while cutting himself free as we walked off.

"Hey!"

I yelled as my lovely flashback had abruptly ended when Hidan had caught up and grabbed me roughly by my collar. He dragged me away, back behind Kakuzu again, while then lifting me a little more than foot in the air, and even then still having to bend over some, so that he was at full intimidating eye level with me.

"When I get the first chance I get, I'm going to sacrifice you to Jashin-sama, nice and slow." His piercing glare chilled me to the bone but my bravo still hadn't faded completely yet.

"Gee thanks!" I exclaimed while putting my hands on my hips. Sarcasm dripped from my voice as I struggled to find the solid ground that was supposed to be underneath my feet.

"Besides didn't your leader say 'not' to harm me?" I emphasized the word 'not' with my fingers. He growled as he dropped me back on my feet.

I made sure this time to walk behind both of them. I sighed for the hundredth time as I was made to practically jog after their equally massive strides. Walking through the forest had been pleasant enough at first for me, seeing as I had never grown up near a forest before. Annoying the zombie duo, as well, with my short attention span by darting after certain things that caught my interest around every five minutes was enjoyable, though it was mostly unintentional.

It was then that one of Kakuzu's threads had snaked itself around my ankle and hauled me a few feet in the air by my foot. After he threatened to cut off said foot if I kept running off from them, he then made me walk for the most part in between him and Hidan, who had voiced out his opinion that he would rather let me run off and then get lost in the woods to die somewhere.

I wasn't a happy camper either as I kept tripping over the massive tree roots all around us as I struggled not to get left behind in the shaded morning gloom of the never ending maze of trees.

Yeah…didn't need a repeat of the last time I got lost because of my pigheadedness. My face flushed and then fell as I rubbed my newly bandaged hand tenderly and winced as I unconsciously cradled it to my chest.

"Damn" I grumbled as I became lost in my own mind and still struggling to not trip over the tree roots as I followed Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb in the shady forest.

* * *

Morning overcame the night quickly as the inky blue sky transformed into the stony grey color of dawn. The warm fall sunlight poured over the richly colored autumn foliage of the surrounding forest, casting gleams of hazy gold and brunt orange shades across the dirt road Kakuzu, and later Hidan, had been following for most of the morning and well into the afternoon.

From what I had pried out of them, mostly Hidan, by annoying them to a whole new level of insanity, we had all escaped the village two nights ago and had we been walking for, what I could guess was, since the early hours of the first morning outside the festival village. By now my feet were aching and my eyes were struggling to stay open from sheer exhaustion. My back was really starting to hurt like a bitch in season too.

I kept yawning as I had gotten practically no sleep since my last fainting spell in the back alley two nights ago and by sleeping on the hard and itchy forest ground for a few short hours my body was sore and itchy all over every time I woke. As well, I had an odd tightening sensation in my chest that would fade and come at random. It was beyond my comprehension. In short I wasn't in the mood to deal with anybody right now… especially Hidan.

"Oi, bitch hurry up you're slower than a dead ass!" Hidan jeered with a smirk over his shoulder from up ahead.

"You're the ass" I growled faintly before struggling to suppress coughing as I jogged to catch up to the constantly bickering zombie duo.

Finally the sun began to set and my stomach finally let out the loudest growl I had ever heard it make.

"What in the hell was that?" Hidan questioned as they both turned back to glance back at me.

"Hehehe…um" Amanda grinned as she scratched the back of her head sheepishly and looked down embarrassed once her stomach unleashed another earth shaking ground. Kakuzu finally paused.

"We stop and set up camp here"

Hidan grunted a half hearted response as he unstrapped his scythe and Kakuzu produced a worn, heavy, green trimmed scroll from one of his hidden pocket within his vast cloak sleeves. He rolled it around lazily in his palm before brutally slamming it onto the ground. With a loud popping sound, a cloud of brief but thick white smoke enveloped him before an already constructed but makeshift tent appeared out of thin air.

"Wow" Amanda blinked in surprise for a moment as her mouth formed a small 'o' at the magically appearing tent. She took no notice as both Akatsuki members were staring oddly at her surprised expression.

'_That's right…'_ Amanda wondered to herself as she quickly got rid of her flabbergasted expression '_T__hey have those summoning scrolls to carry all their supplies and things._'

Her thoughts briefly flashed to Team Gai's weapon specialist, Tenten.

_'So that's how she must have been able to hide all of those enormous weapons... especially in the shippuden series.'_

I shook my head to repress the creeping excitement to actually see all of Konoha's 9 rookies in the flesh. I sat down with a painful grunt against a thick tree trunk as my legs practically gave out in exhaustion under me and my back screamed for rest.

'_No way, not with these two'_

I bit my lip in thought as I hesitantly watched Hidan and Kakuzu go about their tasks. My forehead creased and I frowned as a sudden thought flashed through my memory banks.

_'If anything I have to be careful in making sure these two don't meet up with Team Asuma early or hurt anybody from the leaf village too important either…hmm…though anything beyond that is fair game I guess…?'_

I shivered in excitement and fear simultaneously at the prospect of meeting more characters that I would know or other village ninjas.

'_Hopefully if I do meet somebody from Konaha they could maybe get me away from the Akatsuki!_'

My hopeful thoughts were interrupted as a dark shadow loomed over my sitting form and I looked up to see Kakuzu in front of me. A quick glance around told me that Hidan had disappeared again.

"You're staying in that tent" he responded to my non-vocal question as he abruptly grabed my shoulder and pitched me in the general direction of the tent. I blinked, confused as heck and almost certain that he was not doing this gesture as an act of consideration for my modesty. I swear I could see him frown in annoyance behind his mask as I raised my eyebrows and threw him a questioning glance.

"U-um why?, not that I'm complaining about it but why -" my rant was cut short as he grabbed my forearms and twisted my arms at an uncomfortable angle behind my back.

Shocked, I cried out in some degree of pain as my sore forearms were pinched against the healing wound on my still tender back. He held my arms at such an angle so that I was immobilized and could not break out of his grasp even if I had the muscles to do it in the first place.

"What are you doing!" I snapped at him; he responded my tightening his hold on my arms. My constricted arms throbbed, it felt as if my arms would fall off from lack of blood in my veins

"Ack! Get off, get off me!"

"Hold still" he demanded as I felt one of his large, calloused, hand tugs upwards at my shirt. Amanda suddenly held perfectly still as all her muscles tightened. For a brief moment Kakuzu actually believed that she had abandoned her stubborn pride and had started to listen to him for once.

He was wrong…dead wrong.

Immediately she began to jerk violently and thrash about in all directions in terror and sheer desperation to escape his grasp. Memories of the sound ninja came jamming into her brain like red hot needles as she flailed about and shrieked like an enraged captured animal. Kakuzu grunted as he held her against a tree trunk in an effort to try and cease her erratic movements.

The girl proved to be relentless as she struggled even more against him. Kakuzu growled as he unleashed a few of his stitched tentacles to assist him in forcefully pinning the girl's limbs to the tree.

Grabbing a fistful of my hair, he yanked my neck back with a brutal snap that had me seeing dark spots dance before my eyes as I felt him approach directly behind me.

Gripping the fistful of long dirty blond hair tighter he heard the girl allow a hoarse whimper to escape her throat. He pulled again to get her attention.

"Stop struggling you're only making it harder on yourself"

He quickly pulled up the back of her baggy shirt before the girl could fully process what had just happen. His brow creased in annoyance and frustration at what he saw.

My bruised heart hurt from hamming against my compressed rib cage and the tension from the threads wrapped around my limbs was cutting off the circulation so much that it felt as if the swelling blood flow would exploded out from my arms and legs and would squeeze through each individual pore to tear open my dry skin and pour in rivers from my body. The coldness on my bare back assured me that my shirt had been hiked up around my shoulder blades. I shivered in fear and then at the chilly autumn wind lapped at my exposed back.

"What are you? - Ahhh!" my questions were once again interrupted as the same burning sensation of white hot fiery pain flared along the whole of my back and up towards my upper arms. I felt an immense amount of pain flood every extra sensitive sensory nerve in my back as I experienced a series of sharp tugs that ripped at my freezing back muscles, each time sending me skyrocketing it the stratosphere of pain.

I bit my lip to keep from screaming bloody murder and most likely shouting foul, vile, venomous, curses that would make even Hidan turn blue in the face and earn me a one way trip to hell, curtsey of Kakuzu.

My bottom chapped lip began to bleed as it split open from biting down on it too hard in my pain. After a few dead silent minutes, of what seemed like endless hours to me, kakuzu stopped probing my back and stepped away from me with an animated grunt of frustration.

"Your wounds aren't healing properly and now their infected" Kakuzu growled, just loud enough for me to hear him.

He ignored the girl's crys of pain and agony as he used a kunai to reopen the wound so the infected matter could drain before he could do anything else.

'_The wired chakra is interfering with my chakra infused stitches. Its refusing to corporate in order to heal properly…but still...it is healing unnaturally fast.'_ He watched as some of the enflamed and infected stitches moved slightly. As he probed them more the skin began to rapidly reattach itself in variously random places.

Amanda tried to take deep breathes but only to have them come out as shallow gasps of pain as she listened to Kakuzu in confusion. She coughed in reply and then abruptly hissed as the wildfire licked across her back muscles again and down her spine. She could feel every twitch of her back sending shooting stars dancing across her vision.

Amanda bit her bleeding lip harder as the blood began to trickle down past her chin, down her neckline and down eventually to the forest floor, creating a thread that dangled to the floor in a slow never ending stream of red.

Kakuzu looked on, with an emotionless facade as he observed the gaping wound he had been forced to reopen somewhat to see the extent of the damage that the girl's sudden infection had caused. Listening to the girl's racking pants and congested breathes he concluded that the infection as well must have built up some fluid in her lungs and had already begun to infect her entire body.

"What the hell is going on here?" Hidan appeared next to his partner swinging his scythe casually as he glanced over to them. He let out a long whistle when he noticed the open wound on the girl's back.

"Damn, that's looks disgusting" he smirked as he got closer, observing the gapping, mangled slit in the kid's back. He poked it curiosity and watched as some unnaturally dark blood trickled down and merged over some yellow puss that had been oozing past some of the inflamed stitches that his partner had yet to undo. His smirk widened as he leaned around to look into the kid's face, hidden mostly by long tresses of hanging hair.

Amanda tried to hid her painful gimmicks and hold the tears that threatened to spill over her eyelids, but those plans went out the window as Hidan grabbed her chin and titled her face upwards, revealing wide eyes and a angrily pinched expression.

"Ha-ha…don't look so miserable, if you think this hurts just wait until I can sacrifice you to Jashin-sama." He laughed as hazel eyes glared into magenta ones and her half snarl gimick turned into a strangled whimper as Kakuzu began to rip the last few stitches out. Amanda's eyes widened and she barred her teeth in pain as she began to struggle in vain to escape.

"Hold her down I'm going to re-stitch her" Kakuzu commanded.

"Tch fine, hold still little bitch" he grunted as he held onto Amanda as she tried in vain to thrash about again. Between Kakuzu's tentacles and Hidan's vice grip I couldn't move at all, though I swore up a blue streak of curses to the air as Kakuzu kept stitching.

"Suck it up you damn pussy"

"Go to hell you masochist bastard!"

I clamped my teeth down hard on his hand in response. He growled in anger and his grip on my shoulders felt as if he were going to rip them out of their sockets.

"Well you never had to have your _head_ stitched back on so stop complaining already" he bit back.

"W-well I would be _stupid_ enough to get decapitated in the first place."

"You little shit!" He moved to try and strangle me again but I ignored him as I shook my head violently everytime the pain heightened. Suddenly I felt hands holding my head in a vice grip and prevented me from jerking my head anymore.

"G-get o-off of m-me!"

"Enough" someone commanded as I felt the bounds around me turn loose and quickly slide off to disappear from wherever they came from.

I opened my eyes, that I hadn't known I had shut, to see Hidan holding my head in place. It was an awkward moment to say the least.

I blinked and blinked again before realizing that I couldn't feel my legs and the only thing holding me up now was his hands. His face was blank as he held me up and I couldn't see the usual flicker of malice lying behind his eyes, he looked almost kind for a moment without the crazy gleam in his eye. I was beyond stumped as I stared back.

The brief look passed so fast I was sure I imagined it and a diabolical smirk tugged at his lips as I saw the familiar cold, pitilessness and mischvious look dance in his violet orbs before I felt the warm hands let go of my face. Cold ground met my face and the next thing I felt was the hard solid earth rise up to greet me. The white hot pain dulled and sleep over came my vision.

Breifly I had seen that something had spilled out of my shirt when I hit the ground. A very fine sliver chain was struned across the ground beside my head and the faint rays of sunlight made the white metal spattered with maroon shades glistened ominously.

_'How did that get there?'_ Hope suddenly fluttered in my chest as I stared at the pendent as the edges of my vision began to turn black. I knew my weakened body couldn't handle the pain for much longer. Moving my hand slowly I grasped the pendant, squeezing it with all the strength I had left before my arms went limp and I faded away to blessed sleep.

"…Yukiko…"

* * *

"What was that?"

"What?"

"I keep hearing screaming from somewhere…"

"You heard nothing now shut your mouth and get back to the patrol."

"Fine…but I did hear something" the darkly garbed man huffed as he was about to stalk away from his identically dressed partner to continue his routine patrol.

"What exactly did you hear men?" a coy but civilized voice questioned with a hint of malice from behind the unsuspecting duo. They both froze as they slowly turned to address their overseer.

"U-umm n-nothing Kabuto-sama he just thought he heard a noise from the northeast, t-that's all. "The first sound ninja spoke in a stutter as he tripped over his own words in a rush to explain what had happened. The feared medic nin's smirk widened.

"A noise, what kind of noise?"

Kabuto's smirk had dropped as he analyzed the subordinates before him with a pitiless glare; all traces of his deceiving humor gone.

"I-I um though I heard screaming, sort of like a girl scream, from the northeast, much further into the forest. I've been hearing it for a little bit now b-but I'm sure it was nothi-!"

A flash of sliver blinded the fumbling ninja for a moment from his explanation as he felt the cool steel of a scalpel against his neck. He gulped hesitantly as he made eye contact with the steady gaze of Orochimaru's right hand man. Kabuto's glaring grey eyes bore holes into the terrified man's skull as he seemed to be digesting the interesting information that this pawn had given him. His narrowed eyes suddenly cleared for a fraction of a second in revelation as something occurred to him but then hardened once more into his normal teasing glare.

"Well then gentlemen would it not be your mission to observe any suspicious activity so close to base?"

His cold smirk then vanished as he plunged the knife quickly into the sound nin's throat, severing his main carotid artery and the second vertebrae in less than a few seconds. The man was dead before he hit the ground in a spray of maroon the drenched the crisp afternoon grass in red. Wiping his glasses off on his blood specked purple top he grinned simply in quiet relish at his handy work before turning to the remaining shocked subordinate.

"Gather up all the men, I think it's time to finally check on that little disturbance don't you agree?" the sound nin needed no other encouragement as he disappeared in a blur to alert the rest of the other ninja of their new mission. Kicking the dead body slightly in annoyance Kabuto stared in the direction he had thought he had heard the screams come from too. He felt positive that he was closing in on his target, like the sixth sense of a hunter when it knows it's about to trap it's prey in his snare. His coy smirk returned as he pushed his rimmed glasses further onto his face, the glass reflected the sun's setting rays ominously.

"Soon I'll catch you girl and then you will meet with Master Orochimaru, and perhaps Uchiha."

The blinding glare on the glasses flashed back to Kabuto's stony grey gaze and his diabolical smirk broadened into almost an insane gin.

"Soon, very soon…"

* * *

Hi everybody, im so very sorry it's taken me forever and a half to update but with summer around the corner i will definitly be spittin out these chapters faster then a honeybadger can crack a pistashio! So please, please review if anyone is still interested in this story. Don't give up hope for me yet! Yes, i know this chapter is almost like a filler but i kinda wanted to start establishing alomst a type of bond between Amanda and the Akatsuki if you get me? You can take the prespective on what kind of bond it is anyway you like for now. I would appreciate if someone could leave maybe left a little hint as to where i should start incorperating the main canon maybe? IDK writer block paranoia kicking in now...please review!

Anyone...hello?...Helllllooooo? 0-0

Naw, just jesting. :D


	16. Chapter 15

Hey everybody who reads this, here is a new chapter!

* * *

Chapter 15:

The moon had risen once again over the ancient woods as night chased away the day. The moon took its place among the stars once more to lord over the sky until dawn autumn wind whistled steadily through the sick and dying branches, with the promise of the upcoming winter on its breath. Groaning, I awoke in a shivering heap on the freezing earth as another gust blew through the flimsy fabric of the makeshift tent yet again. Moving slightly from her position from the floor Amanda groaned again as the burning sensation from the night's chill bit into her exposed flesh. Multi-colored flecks danced across my sealed eyelids as my now newly stitched back cried out in agony every time I so much as moved. Giving up on falling back asleep I unshielded myself from the cold as I lifted my hands and began to massage my throbbing temples.

"Ugh, my back…"

Heavy hazel eyes fluttered open against their desperate need for more rest as Amanda struggled to wake up fully. Rolling over into a more comfortable position on my side I looked around the oddly spacious tent.

'**Where did they go?'** I wondered as I fumbled around in the dark, looking for an opening.

After what seemed like forever and half my eyes had begun to adjust and I could make out a sliver of pale light, spilling onto the grass. My frozen fingers pried open the slit in the rough fabric hastily as I poked my head out from behind the tent flap. Soft, pale moonlight bathed the whole forest in calming hues of silver and deep shadows as I cautiously exited the tent, wincing as I stood up and stared around in amazement.

'**So peaceful…so otherworldly…'**

I marveled as I titled my head back to watch the half moon and array of stars twinkling through the forest canopy. The eerie starlit woods put the colorful festival of lights from before to shame as my mouth continued to hang like a gaping fish. Suddenly the all to familiar feeling of sadness and longing washed over me.

'**Yea, otherworldly…that makes total sense when I'm in another world.'**

My thoughts dripped sarcasm as I came back from whatever cloud 9 my imagination had whisked me too. I let my gaze drop to the forest floor beneath my feet.

"Tech… Your too air headed bitch" A cocky voice snorted from the darkness behind me. I sighed.

"It's rude to stare" I retorted, not feeling up to the challenge of handling another swearing match. I didn't turn around to see who it was; firstly, because I already knew who it was, and secondly, because my back wouldn't have it.

"Believe me I wasn't, there's nothing to stare at" Hidan responded snidely as he smirked at the moon.

Not taking the bait, the girl stayed quiet as she slowly turned around. Not far from where she stood Amanda could make out a clump of charred wood and still cooling embers, they smoked faintly as the faint wisps of smoke signaled its dying flame. My back and ribs protested from further movement but I ignored them anyways as I slowly walked over to the two faint outlines seated around the vanishing fire.

"You shouldn't be awake yet," Kakuzu stated as I watched his faint figure in the gloom.

"The cold woke me up" I mumbled quietly, sitting on the hard ground, still waiting for my eyes to adjust full to the contrasting shadows around me. It grew quiet again as neither of them said anything. I got bored as I began prodding the dying fire with a nearby stick, occasionally rubbing my tightening chest. Just as I was about to doze off from what little warmth the weak flame provided they both stood up quickly. Amanda flinched at their quickness.

"Damn, in the dead of night too. What the hell does he want now!" Hidan growled as he yawned and cracked his back lazily. Amanda frowned at him, wondering what he was complaining about now. Kakuzu stood as well, making hand signs as he did so.

"What does who want?" She questioned innocently as they both stared down at her. They both suddenly remembered her presence, and both mentally cursed.

"Hey Kakuzu what do we do about the kid?" I twitched in aggravation at the name. Kakuzu stayed quiet for a moment, his hands forming a hand seal and his eyes closed briefly. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and glared at the space in front of him in annoyance.

"Leader wants us both there." He answered, turning back to his partner.

"Well shit! Then what about her, who is going to watch her!" He growled pointing over his shoulder at the curious girl and her still miffed expression.

"No one…"

Suddenly Kakuzu stood before me and yanked me up by my shoulders, causing me to flinch as I bit back a cry of surprise. He put his masked face a dozen inches or so from my own and glare intently at me.

"You're not going to run." He stated as if were a simple fact, his green pupils daring me to say otherwise. I quickly shook my head; my heart began to beat faster.

"You're not going hide." Again I shook my head as his grasp on my shoulders turned painful.

"You're going to stay in that tent…" He seemed to pause for a minute as he though of something else.

"…and you're not going to open it, even if you think we are back."

He leaned closer waiting for my reply as he maintained blood chilling eye contact with me. I gulped as I cleared away the lump of fear in my throat. Hidan watched on, smirking at the fear he could see plain as day on the wrench's face. Shaking my head rapidly as I swore to him that I won't move from the tent. He stepped away and let me go, I quickly rubbed my arms, trying to get the blood flow back into them.

As I heard Hidan chuckle from my right I glared at him. I must have looked pathetic because his smirk only grew. I growled at him as continued playing dumb.

"How long will you both be gone?"

**'Hopefully they're all extracting a tailed beast and I won't have to put up with them for a while- **

**Arg! Damn it all! I want to punch that smug smirk right off Hidan's face!'**

He walked over to his partner before glancing over his shoulder.

"That's none of your business" He spoke coldly as he continued stalking away into the forest.

I huffed as I crossed my arms. Suddenly a kunai sailed through the air and landed at my feet. I yelped as I jumped back in shock from where the dagger had embedded itself mere inches from my feet, and I just happen to fall on my but. A wicked cackle erupted through the night air as Hidan laughed cruelly when I fell.

"Use that in case you run into trouble bitch!" He called back, his magenta eyes flashed unsettlingly as I watched him smirk smugly one more time before he too turned on his heel and disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

Hidan and Kakuzu flew deeper into the forest at an intense speed, typical for their ninja status. They rushed through the dense canopy of forest branches with a slight but barely noticeable increase in their speed. Hidan swooped in closer to gain his partner's attention.

"Do you really trust that brat enough to just leave her there?

Hidan questioned, a scowl forming over his features as the throbbing in his head increased viciously.

Leader was losing patience, fast.

"Damn that bastard" He muttered to himself as both there paces increased with the tempo of the throbbing within their skulls.

"Despite her previous actions, the girl isn't stupid enough to run off again"

He glanced at his partner's disbelieving look before continuing. "…After all I doubt she will forget the consequences of her previous actions?"

Hidan's face went blank for a second before dark understanding flashed across his features. Fuchsia colored eyes narrowed as the immortal hid any other expression he had had before with another cocky smirk.

"We'll have to mention to leader about what the bitch did in that back alley and what she said about that snake traitor" He rolled his eyes.

"Though this is going to be a pain in the ass when we're looking for the Two Tails." He groaned as he rubbed his forehead.

Kakuzu glanced back to stare at his partner for a moment, wondering what caused him to switch topics so quickly, before looking ahead as he nodded solemnly. "That will complicate things… but…it just might be a benefit."

Hidan raised an eyebrow at the odd comment his partner had just given him.

"What do you mean by that money fucker?" Hidan's smirk vanished as he frowned at his partner.

Instead of continuing the conversation Kakuzu ignored Hidan as he jumped down into another small clearing.

"We're here"

Hidan jumped down next to the ex-waterfall Nin, an annoyed expression dominating his features.

"Alright, lets get this over with"

As both ninjas performed the necessary hand seals and seated themselves down they failed to notice a pair of dangerous crimson eyes watching their ever move or the satisfied smirk that belonged to the pair of spinning pupils. As the clouds covering the moon dissipated, moonlight shined within the clearing yet again and the demonic like eyes vanished with the shadows.

* * *

In the shadows of the forest the sound of clinking metal could be heard as Amanda fidgeted around with the kunai, bored out of her skull. The kunai whizzed through the air as the young inexperienced girl practiced with the weapon.

"(Huff, huff, huff)… this is harder then it looks."

I sighed as I picked up the dagger again.

Licking my lips, I gripped the handle of the blade tighter, drawing it closer as I got ready again. With a grunt the girl flicked her wrist and the kunai upwards and lunged forward as she pretended to stab invisible opponents. Using her previous momentum she twisted sharply on her heel as she sliced vertically through the air, then lunged again as she twirled the dagger around and stabbed vertically behind her. Pausing to catch her breath she continued, struggling to overcome the pain that flared like the familiar wildfire across her back and shoulders. Amanda paused yet again, hissing in pain as her muscles screamed for rest.

"No, (huff), not yet, (huff)…one more time!" Fiery hazel eyes flashed open in grim determination as Amanda surged forward once more.

Closing my eyes to overcome the nausea I felt increasing in my stomach I practiced the dance that I had invented and then memorized for the past couple hours or so since Hidan and Kakuzu had left.

'**Step, twist, lunge, twirl, duck, repeat! Step, lunge, twist, duck, twirl, repeat!' **

Moving around and around I could feel the ground with my bare feet, and feel the kunai slicing through the air, like a part of my arm. It felt empowering and gave me a sense of security. I stopped with the knife held out in front of me like a sword, breathing harshly as I slowly opened my eyes, my heart racing. Suddenly a faint rustling sound could be heard outside the tent. I froze immediately.

'**Could Hidan and Kakuzu be back already?'** I wondered, as I stayed perfectly still and listened as hard as I could. Straining my ears yet again I heard the noise again.

'**Yes, definitely a footstep.'**

I nodded my head slowly in assurance as I crouched down onto my knees and crawled to the opening of the tent. Cautiously I lifted the edge of the bottom of the flap and hesitantly placed my eyes at the level of the ground.

Watching from beneath the flap the girl waited until the clouds disappeared again to bathe the small clearing in moonlight. I could see vague moving shadows from across the camp, moving silently from the corners of the woods. My heart began to pound faster and my breath hitched when I glimpsed a gleam of metal from somewhere amongst the dark foreboding trees.

Suddenly a sandal cladded foot appeared right before me, only inches from my face. I felt blood swell in my mouth as I harshly bit my tongue to keep from screaming out in surprise and fear. Squeezing my eyes close I panted softly as I tried to silently steady my breathing. My heart contracted painfully in terror once the person before me spoke.

"Well, well, well, what do you suppose is in here?" The mysterious voice taunted as they shuffled closer to the tent.

'**That definitely not one of my Akatsuki wardens …'**

My gut clenched and my hands instinctively grasped the kunai in my hands in a vice grip as I shuffled backwards, trying desperately not to make a sound. Suddenly the makeshift tent was tore open as a kunai was plunged through the fabric, I locked my jaw and tensed as I leaned on the balls of my feet in anticipation. The flap fell limply to the ground as the moonlight outlined the figure of a young man standing before the opening of the tent.

The stranger chuckled as he took a menacing step forward, pushing up a pair of round glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. They reflected the moonlight eerily as cold grey eyes analyzed me.

"Hmm, looks like the Akatsuki aren't too careful with their toys, now are they?" My mouth gaped as the familiar voice floated over to me and I immediately recognized who the person before me was.

'**Kabuto!' **

He smirked lightly when he noticed the kunai in my shaking hand.

"Come now girl, I won't harm you." He soothed as he took another step forward, gauging my petrified expression.

"After all, wouldn't you like to escape the men that are holding you prisoner now?" He cooed as if talking to a terrified rabbit.

He reached out a hand, inviting the girl to accept is offer and leave with him. Amanda swallowed thickly as she stared at the slender long hand.

"Come on, don't be afraid."

Kabuto observed the girl, his patience wearing thin already, as she dipped her head and let her long hair cover her eyes from him. After a few seconds her small child like hand reached up to grab his in acceptance. He smirked triumphantly, not noticing that the girl had stopped shaking.

Suddenly the girl sprang up like a cat and lunged at him with her kunai with all of her might. Momentarily caught off guard he felt the kunai graze the back of his hand as he darted around the girl, attempting to stop her ridiculous attempts against him.

What he didn't expect was for the girl to turn, as fast as he did, to face him and cut through the air where his head had once been in a series of seemingly random strikes.

I put all my strength and focus in the moves I had taught myself, putting them to good use as I swiped at Kabuto repeatedly with the kunai. It didn't last though as I grew tired from the previous practicing and from my body crying out in almost unbelievable amount of pain. Kabuto saw his opportunity as he quickly knocked the kunai away with the flick of a wrist and quickly pinned the girl's arms to her sides before slamming the girl roughly against his chest. I cried out in pain as I felt the tender new stitches bleed slightly through the torn undershirt Konan had lent me. I heard Kabuto chuckle darkly as I struggled helplessly against him.

"Well then, this feisty kitten has claws now doesn't she? How interesting…" He leaned down closer to my ear.

"So, you don't want to escape then?" He questioned as Amanda growled and tried in vain to spit at him.

"Not with you!" I shouted as I squirmed and twisted, desperate to get out of this psychopathic sound ninja's grasp. He growled angrily as I took the opportunity to elbow him in the stomach.

'**Speaking of psychopaths, where are my undead psychos?**'I mentally wailed as Orochimaru's right hand man dragged me out from the remains of the tent and out into the middle of the clearing.

A group identically dressed men in baggy garb, suddenly appeared and all stood within a group in the center of the clearing. The sound symbols on their forehead protectors' gleamed menacingly in the starlight as many pairs of small dark eyes watched their leader drag the struggling girl towards them.

I grunted as Kabuto left me go and pushed me to the ground. Dirt flittered around me as I fell, no one moved towards me. Coughing I struggled to stand but the injury to back would not let me move. Kabuto wasted down time in pinning me down again as he commanded for some rope. He then proceeded to bound Amanda's wrists behind her back and tied a coil of thick rope into her mouth as well.

"Is this the same girl?" Kabuto questioned his silent subordinates as he gripped the girl's long tresses and yanked her head back by the roots of her hair, exposing her face dirt smeared face to the group.

"Well?" he barked, his silver eyes narrowed pointedly at the men.

"Yes sir!"

"That's the one."

"Yeah, she was what made those two Akatsuki kill the rest of our squadron!"

Various voices accused as the group of sound ninja's became rallied by the presence of the child, blaming her for the cause of so many of their companions' deaths.

"Hmp, yea right that was my fault, just blame me for everything that goes wrong with you morons." Amanda grumbled to herself as the thick rope pressed against her tonuge made her words unrecognizable.

Suddenly a harsh smacking sound echoed in the night and silenced the others. Amanda abruptly found herself face to face with the floor again in something less than a second, still left wondering to what had just happened. The large, colorful imprint from the meaty hand that had punched me across the face was my only clue as I gingerly moved my head from side to side, fighting to regain my normal vision against the vicious on slat.

"Thanks to your Akatsuki dogs half of our team is dead!" One of the men before me spat as he readied a second blow.

Master Orochimaru was furious at your second escape!" Another shouted as he kicked the bounded girl in the ribs on the floor.

After a few more kicks and a few more curses the onslat was stopped as Kabuto held a hand up. With a painful grunt Amanda rolled onto her back and slowly sat up, glaring at the sound Nin's as she did so. The girl mumbled something softly to herself before another man lifted her by her hair again, taking the rope out of her mouth so he and his companions could hear her better.

"What was that brat?" The un-named sound nin grunted. Swallowing thickly as she licked her cut lip Amanda twisted around in his grip to face him with an unnerving glare

"They're not..." She coughed abruptly before breaking her stare and looking down to the ground.

"They're not dogs…" The girl muttered pathetically to herself. Kabuto snorted.

"Really now kitten? You would rather choose those murders over us?" He mocked with false hurt and sarcasm dripping from his words. Hazel eyes glared at him once again.

"They may be murdering psychos but I rather them over any of you any day!" She shouted as she summoned up her last shred of courage as she twisted behind her and spat in the face of the man who held the painful grip on her hair.

"You little-!" The masked ninja barked angrily. I shut my eyes and let out a scream of pain as I was hauled to my feet by my hair again, my toes barely touched the ground.

"Enough"

A cold voice spoke, slicing through the loud commotion with just one word. The voice echoed in the night clearing and bounced back in my skull.

"Oh no…" I whispered helplessly, not daring to open my eyes. My reaction went unnoticed as Kabuto turned away from the group.

"I assume you took care of the two Akatsuki members?" Kabuto drawled as he watched the youngest Uchiha appear soundlessly in the center of the clearing. Sasuke didn't answer him at first, taking in the scene before him with an impassive expression.A few seconds later he sent a glare towards Kabuto half heartedly.

"Hn"

He looked down at the girl being detained by the weak chuunin leveled subordinate before him. He really questioned if this weak girl before him was really was the girl his sensei had sent him on some wild goose chase all over the sound to find. A well-placed glare from his master's prized pupil pierced through the leering sound Nin's resolve as he released the teenage and sent her sprawling to her knees.

Amanda opened her eyes as she was sent tumbling to the ground. Grunting in pain as the falling jolt had reminded her already sore injuries, Amanda turned to see a new figure dressed in purple and white billowing clothes, outlined by the moonlight behind him with a thin sword strapped to his back. He stood directly in front of her. She froze, not daring to look up any farther to know whose crimson irises she knew she would see.

My breath caught in my throat as I heard the smooth voice I had dreaded hearing again speak. My mind reeled at his question, not knowing what to think.

"What do you know of Itachi Uchiha?" Sasuke questioned monotonously as the girl continued her froze stare at his stomach.

'**Your brother? Hmp... Well he is sort of a jerk and tends to fall into the wrong kind of crowd. Kind of like you…'**

Suddenly I found cold steel pressing against my neck as the tip of the thin sword slipped under my chin. The blade moved as it titled my chin upwards. I complied as I moved my head gingerly against the blade pressed against my pale throat, not wanting to have him split my chin open.

Sasuke forced her head upwards with his kantana to face him. His sharingan activated as the girl stared desperately past him and focused on he moon shining above them, moving her head slightly to avoid his gaze even more. He smirked at her actions.

"Answer me," he warned as he took a step closer, the black totems spun rapidly around his pupils as he stared the girl down. The girl remained silent as Sasuke felt his patience slipping.

Suddenly shouts of alarm could be heard echoing throughout the forest, followed shortly by a few muffed screams. The group whirled around as a few terrified sound Nin's charged hastily into the clearing. Blood dripped from random points from their fresh injuries.

"Sirs, they broke through the genjustu and are closing in fast!" A man with a bleeding arm panted out as he turned fearfully back to look towards the forest. I shuddered against the cold metal pressed against my warm flesh as more screams of pain rang out in the night. Kabuto looked curiously at Sasuke.

"I believe its time to go now..." He paused and leered down at the petrified girl. "We can't keep Master Orochimaru waiting any longer now can we girl?" He crouched down at eye level with her. He gripped her chin up to force her to look into his malicious grey eyes as Sasuke drew away his sword.

"He has been so very eager to finally meet you" Kabuto laughed at the glowering girl's suddenly terrified expression as he forced her to her feet.

"Very eager…"

Suddenly a pale hand shot out and grasped her neck, making Amanda breaking eye contact with the seemingly pleased medic Nin.

I glanced upwards as fiery red orbs penetrated me down to the very core of my bones. I let out a strangled cry when I finally made eye contact with Sasuke. The sharingan was more horrifying then the anime could ever portray it and simple words could do no justice in describing the effect of it's powerful presence when faced with it in real life.

'**N-no…'**

Amanda opened her mouth to scream or possibly say something but her hazel eyes grew misty and they were shut of their own accord. She felt the world tip and the ground shift under her feet as she fell forward.

'**Someone… please…stop this!'**

An arm warped around her waist and prevented her from falling to the ground once again as she felt the cold hand leave her throat. The last thing Amanda could remember was the sensation of her feet leaving the ground, a burst of cool night air, and the image of a pair of red orbs staring down at her as she passed out yet again in the arms of an enemy.

* * *

Well here's chapter um? 16 I think.I confused myself with the numbers -_- I believe I had split up chapter 11 into chapters 11 and 12.

Anyways review if you like or want to correct me on something. Thanks!

Btw: I had gone back and split two parts of a chapter into actual different chapters, so this is the _real_ new chapter.

Btw2: I've been going back and fixing up grammer mistakes on recent chapters just in case you got confused with the slight tweaks I've made.


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Note: You know Ladies and Gets; I just realized that this story has completely strayed from my original path. It has completely taken a form on its own right under my nose too. I would have never guessed that I would be this far on chapter 16 already and have not even gotten the major ball rolling a little bit. Anyways I know this story has some flaws so please stuck with it. It will get better. And away we go!

* * *

Chapter: 16

Water dripped noisily from the stone ceiling above. Years of poor undertaking and erosion had left this cavern in a pitiful state of disarray. For the moment this hideout was only being put to use out of its sheer convenience and its pure secrecy. Cold wind whistled through the many cracks in the walls as a merciless storm pelted the world outside with sheets of icy rain, the typical weather for the rain country of Amagakure. Slowly seven shadows flicked into being among the rumble. The once still cave now hummed alive with energy and power as a suffocating murderous intent radiated across the rancid cavern air.

_"Your late"_ An intimidating voice drawled after some time as two remaining figures flickered into existence.

_"Hai, Leader sama"_ Kakuzu acknowledged as he appeared atop his designated perch. I snort could be heard from the other shadowed outline.

"_We had to make sure the bitch would stay put, since we both had to come"_ Hidan complained, the scorn obvious in his tone. He too took his assigned place atop one of the fingers of the monstrous 'King of Hell' statue.

_"Ha! How hard can it be to tie up some brat, yea?"_ Deidara mocked from his place across the cavern as he snickered at his fellow member's misfortune.

_"Fuck off! It's harder than you fucking think."_ Hidan bit out before pausing to suddenly smirk in the darkness. Deidara scowled in the gloom as he caught sight of it, the darkness not hindering any of their eyesight.

_"The bitch is a handful, but you'll figure that out soon enough cocksucker."_

The ex-Iwa ninja growled as he held up a fist in annoyance. Deidara silently reminded himself to blow the damned masochist immortal sky-high next time they met. Before either of them could continue, a booming voice echoed across the leaky cave, halting their little disagreement.

_"Enough, it is time"_ Pein commanded.

The room fell dead silent as he did the necessary hand seals for the intensively chakra draining jutsu that were about to do. Everyone followed suit, bracing themselves. Suddenly the thunderous groan of shift sand and stone could be heard echoing within the dank cavern as a large dust cloud burst forth from beneath the statue. After a moment the dust began to settle as the statue began to move.

Blue flames exploded from all around as various members summoned their chakra to its pinnacle where it could become plainly visible. The stone mouth of the blinded statue slowly began to creek its massive jaws open. Suddenly nine fearsome looking creatures that assumed the forms of nine, scorching blue, dragons slithered out from the "King's" throat. The chakra created dragons wove and weaved around each other gracefully at first until they began to rush hungrily to encompass the limp figure lying at the base of the sealing statue. Seconds before the soul stealing dragons began to devour the Jincuriki vessel before them one stopped abruptly. It hissed and began to shimmer as its master struggled to speak while maintaining his control over the jutsu.

"**Trouble…"** Zetsu's black half announced as both of his golden eyes opened to peer oddly in a particular direction. His mind was seeing two places at once.

"_For you two…"_ His white half struggled to finish while maintaining the taxing jutsu as he glared at the zombie duo.

_"Explain"_ Leader commanded a dangerous undertone present at being interrupted in the middle of such a delicate jutsu.

"_I can sense a massive amount of enemies approaching you two. __**They got through whatever half assed defenses you set. **__If__they were to interrupt the justu beyond this stage… __**we can't cancel it. **__Leaving you two…_** morons open for slaughter and us… **_without a proper means of finishing the extraction_."

Zetsu's black and white personalities finished, both holding the same annoyance in their voices, which was a rare occurrence in itself.

_"Huh?-wait why were you following us you damn plant fucker!"_ Hidan barked as Kakuzu tensed.

"_Orders_…**none of your business"**

Meanwhile, Pein turned to the slightly surprised zombie combo. His eyes spoke of brutal punishment.

_"You two…"_ Pein trailed off eyeing them both. The murderous intent in the room suddenly spiked until it became almost unbearable.

_"We cannot have any interference during this procedure. This meeting is postponed until both of you have eliminated the threats and set actual defenses for yourselves. Now…"_ He turned to the rest before flickering out of existence with a hand sign.

_"Dismissed"_

With their meeting canceled, and their leader absent, many of the members disappeared as well, severing their holographic forms. A few members grumbled about the wasted time, namely a certain impatient puppet master and a certain hot-headed bomber, before flickering out like candles in a breeze. Three more members quickly followed suit, leaving without a word. One remained behind as he stared silently at Kakuzu and Hidan.

_"How much time?"_ Kakuzu questioned as he turned towards the plant man. Zetsu was still for a second longer before replying.

"**Less than 30 seconds**, _I would hurry if I were you_. With that the cannibal turned and left to resume his duties.

The killing intent had not quite left the cavern quite yet as two unsettled shadows had remained for a moment, unsure of what was truly happening at the time.

_"Let's go"_ Kakuzu motioned as he finally switched his holograph off, disappearing with all the others. Hidan stood for a moment, alone in his confusion before something finally occurred to him.

_"Ha! Hell yes! I'm going to give you a ton of sacrifices tonight Lord Jashin! And there is nothing you can do about it now your old money-whore."_ He called out as an afterthought as he merged his conscious with the rest of his body.

* * *

Violet and emerald-green eyes snapped open not seconds later as the zombie duo awoke from their self-induced comatose state. Upon standing Kakuzu grumbled something under his breath. _"…Damn good genjutsu"_ he noted as he took noticed of the eerily still and silent forest.

_"We didn't even feel it until we looked hard enough for one."_ He turned to his partner.

_"Let's get this over with…"_ With an almost untraceable flick of the wrist, exploding kunai where unleashed everywhere. The detonations rattled the calm forest and dispelled the powerful genjutsu immediately. Not seconds later was the alarm raised as the deadly duo sped back to their earlier campsite, cutting down everyone in their path with bloody excitement. Without the mask of the genjustu they could tell the numbers of the enemy ninjas. They were closing in fast and from many directions.

The sound of swift footfalls and billowing fabric cut through the once tranquil night as Hidan and Kakuzu raced through the treetops.

_"Hmp, so where are these fuckers"_ Hidan growled his weapon at the ready. Kakuzu made no attempt to respond, already knowing the answer. Suddenly another denser noise quickly erupted behind them throughout the forest as the sound of other heavier footfalls began to approach them from all sides. With a sudden war cry a determined group of sound ninjas appeared before them. They began their vicious assault as their re-enforcements swarmed in.

_"Finally, took you pussies long enough!"_ Hidan deflected the oncoming weapons as he simultaneously began cutting down the men with his scythe. Meanwhile, Kakuzu unleashed a wave of slithering threads that he transformed the forest canopy into a maze of black pencil thick skewers that cut the remaining men into pieces of flesh. Within seconds of cutting down the pesky distractions another entire horde of blood seeking assailants and weapons flew from the treetops towards them.

_"Damn it all!"_ Hidan swore in fustration as he picked up the pace. He enjoyed fighting, but not when he was running out of time for something more important; namely getting back to finishing the summoning extraction before Leader got more pissed off then he already was.

_"Oi, Kakuzu! We need to get rid of these pests already!"_ The sliver haired masochist yelled to be heard over the noise as he flipped away from another round of eager pests before swinging his massive weapon in a quick circle, cleaning decapitating five ninja in a row. Kakuzu nodded in agreement, though his mind wandered to a different reason for ending this pathetic little army Orochimaru sent for them.

_"Got it"_ Kakuzu dodged a few more blows before kicking away a few sound ninjas surrounding him. He quickly unzipped his cloak, letting it fall to the forest floor below. His hands created a complex series of hand seals and with a grunt he slammed his fists into the ground. Kakuzu had summoned one of his 'hearts' to the battle. With a thunderous noise the thread like creature hissed and shot a massive fireball jutsu towards the group while its master evaded it just in time.

_"Hey watch it!"_ Hidan shouted, as he caught part of the blast, not that it really affected him at all. Kakuzu rolled his eyes, not concerned about his immortal partner's complaint.

_"Round them up"_ He ordered as he and his partner circled the attacking enemies into a forced group. When the men were rounded practically back to back, the fire wielding summon opened its great black maw and unleashed another burst of flame, with a size that could have rivaled Itachi's 'Grand Fireball' jutsu. The petrified sound ninja's were burned to a crisp in mere seconds.

Metal clashed against metal as the two Akatsuki members fought and demolished the last of the swarm of retreating weaker ninja. Kakuzu did a few more hand signs after Hidan tore the last remaining henchman into two and beckoned the monster. With its work done the creature growled simply in response before reattaching to its master's back from where it had sprang forth from. The mask was sealed in place with an audible snapping noise. After picking up and brushing off his cloak, Kakuzu nodded. He and Hidan wasted no time in continuing to race after the barely detectable chakra signatures of a couple of Orochimaru's henchmen that had cowardly fled from their comrades before the battle had even begun. They were too afraid to even consider facing the notorious Akatsuki.

_"Shit, I'm going to kill all of those little heathens once I get my hands on them"_ The Jashin worshiper cackled excitedly.

_"No"_ Kakuzu spoke.

_"What the fuck do you mean, 'No'! I'm going to slaughter them. I don't need your damn permission!"_ Hidan snapped back as he picked up his pace. He was attempting to reach the fleeing ninja and make some much-needed sacrifices for his god. Hidan smirked evilly as he felt the chakra signatures getting closer. Suddenly Kakuzu warped his tentacles around his blood-frenzied partner's scythe, and with a sharp tear, it was ripped from his grasp. Hidan, without stopping, spun around and lunged in rage for his prized weapon. Kakuzu wasted no time in pinning his partner down once again with his chakra strengthened threads. He stepped on his back cruelly as Hidan swore murder at him.

_"What the hell are you doing you old heathen bastard! I'll rip all of your beating hearts out you stupid fucker! Get off me! I'm going to kill you!"_

Kakuzu increased the pressure on his masochist of a partner's back until he could feel his ribs cracking under the pressure.

_"OW! Hey cut it out Kakuzu!"_

"_Shut up and listen for once."_ The masked Nin spoke coldly as he twisted his foot more in a futile attempt to keep the religious zealot quiet.

_"We need them alive"_

Hidan paused in his thrashing as he twisted around to glare at his partner.

_"What the fuck is wrong with you, Kakuzu? You're not going to let me kill those fuckers who just attacked us for no fucking reason!?"_ He snarled.

_"They didn't attack us without any reason. It would be pointless and suicidal for them." _Kakuzu paused._ "They were only a distraction."_

_"What are you talking about now you money whore"_ Hidan growled as he became interested. Kakuzu released him, once he was positive that his partner was thoroughly engaged into the conversation.

_"Think about it moron, what, or should I say who, is Orochimaru after?"_ Kakuzu questioned as he folded his arms and waited.

_"Tch, how he fuck am I supposed to know what that damn snake's agenda is"_ Hidan barked in aggravation, still not following the masked bounty hunters' train of thought quite yet. Kakuzu rolled his eyes once again at his partner's stupidity.

_"…The girl was right, you have been decapitated one too many times"_

_"You're siding with the bitch? Are you fucking kidding me-"_ He paused in the middle of his rant as it dawned on him.

_"…Oh…shit. Not again!"_ He roared.

_"Really?! Again, this happened again!"_

_"They must have still kept tabs on our general whereabouts and waited until she was alone."_

_"Ah fuck, well that's fucking great!"_ Hidan reposed as he ripped his scythe from Kakuzu's grasp and gracefully flipped it around his body until it was strapped to holster behind his back again. Kakuzu was mildly surprised that he hadn't tried to charge after him for his sacrificial weapon.

_"Why the hell does he want **her** so badly? He must be pretty damn desperate if he came after us"_

Kakuzu looked away into the forest. _"We're going to find out"._

_"Tch, I'm not going to even fucking ask the same question anymore. Just what are you getting at?"_ Hidan stated flatly. Kakuzu's bright green irises seemed to be boring holes into the thick zombie ninja's skull as he pared his dangerously annoyed glare for Hidan's aggravated and confused one. The masked Nin repressed the urge to sigh or rip his partner's head off again as he explained.

_"It's simple, leave a few of the vermin alive and they'll always crawl back to their sewer"_

_"So…they're going to led us to Orochimaru's base? Why can't I just sacrifice them and we can go looking for the base ourselves? It's better than waiting on those cocksuckers!"_

_"Based from what information the rest of the members had gathered, Orochimaru has more than one base, in more than one country."_

_"Then it would be like picking a fucking needle in a damn haystack."_ Hidan groaned. Kakuzu nodded.

_"Exactly…these subordinates will probably need to report back to him soon though. A few might wander into false lairs as a precaution, but one of the dogs must go back to its master sometime and with any luck we'll find it soon enough."_

_"Tch, we better, what with what happened last time"_ Hidan grunted as they took off again, masking their chakra signatures, as they silently tracked the small three man band of ninjas. Suddenly the three men cell split up as each individual Nin escaped in opposite directions.

_"Great…they must have known we're tracking them." _His grip on his scythe tightened in annoyance.

_"Shut up, we're going to split up now. You take the right side route; I'll take the left, and send a clone after the one in the middle."_

_"Hmp, whatever…"_

And so the hunt begins.

* * *

Laughter echoed from all sides as her feet pounded against the missing ground. She was terrified of the shifting darkness. It lapped at her heels, threatening to swallow her whole as it gave chase. Red and black spinning eyes plagued her vision as she ran from them…

Amanda woke up with a start. She gently rubbed her forehead as she lied on cool, hard, stone. Her head ached. She moaned softly in pain. Amanda heard a noise move from the far corners of the shadowed room.

_"Finally awake I see."_ An icy voice questioned mockingly and the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the hapless girl lying on the ground.

Amanda rolled her eyes as she squinted in the darkness.

**'Who kidnapped me now?'** she wondered bitterly. Pushing herself up onto her elbows Amanda turned to see a silhouette against the wall of the shadowed wall of the room. Her shoulders tensed as she struggled to stand, only to cry out as pain surged from her legs. Amanda fell back down to the ground in a heap.

_"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't if I were you"_ A voice chastised from the shadows. The girl growled insults silently to herself as she scouted backwards. She felt her back meet the jagged points of a rocky wall and she bit her lip.

_"Now then girl, don't look so frightened"_ the same voice smirked from the gloom. Amanda pushed herself deeper into the rock wall, wishing that she could somehow be like Zetsu and merge into the wall.

_"I-I'm not, so piss off!"_ She snapped irritability and somewhat nervous about the disembodied voice addressing her. She tried standing again only to drop to her knees and then over onto her side in pain. Amanda grunted as she peered into the black.

_"What's wrong with me?!"_ She demanded as she tried moving her lead weighted legs again.

_"Hm? That my dear is exactly what I would like to figure out as well"._

Suddenly firelight engulfed the room as the torches that were leaning against the wall ignited in a blaze. Amanda squinted from the abrupt light and shivered as she made out three distinct outlines against the firelight. A pair of gleaming yellow orbs stared hungrily from a seated figure atop a throne, flanked by two more pairs of eyes, one grey and one red. They danced in the candle light with malicious intensity as Orochimaru himself smiled wolfishly down at his new captive.

Amanda's eyes widened as she swallowed hard.

_"N-no I meant my legs, what did you do to my legs!?"_ She hissed as she broke off eye contact and worked in vain on moving the lower portion of her body. The snake smirked pitilessly.

_"Kabuto"_ The snake sanin beckoned to his left as said minion stepped up. He flashed a quick yet condescending smile towards the girl who in turn hissed and then spat in his general direction, not unlike a feral cat.

_"What manners…"_ Kabuto chuckled sardonically as he glared at her before continuing. _"It's a paralyzing serum but don't worry too much about it, it's not toxic"_ He assured as they all watched the girl's futile panicky attempts to move her arms, as they too laid limp at her sides.

_"But…"_ Amanda stopped for a moment as she looked up expectantly, her hazel eyes narrowing slightly.

'**A catch…there is always a stupid catch!' **

_"If you don't hurry, then by the time the hour is up, all of your major organs will become paralyzed and start to shut down"_ Kabuto grinned as he took in the girl's stunned expression.

"Unless…" Amanda paused again in her thrashing as she glared at him with ferocity, willing for him to just spit everything out already.

_"…you have this"_ Kabuto paused for a moment as he plucked a small vial from within his side pouch. He lifted it higher, allowing the light blue liquid to be seen clearly. Amanda watched it warily as it seemed to shimmer with a florescent glow in the torchlight. Kabuto again smirked patronizingly as he waved it teasingly in front of her.

_"This is the antidote, if it is given correctly in time you will live. If not…"_ He quickly pocketed the vial as he gauged the girl's reaction so far. Orochimaru leaned forward slightly as his usual smirk twisted itself into a malicious smile. Amanda clenched her teeth together as she strained her now fading hearing. Kabuto remained unfazed as he watched in amusement as the girl gave him her best glare, something that would disturb most full grown men. He already knew what the little spit-fire before him was thinking. But why spoil the fun? He was just going to say it anyway.

_"…Your heart will stop beating"_

Amanda gulped quietly as a fear like never before clutched at her chest and scrapped her insides raw. Or was that the poison?

_"Now then child, now that your condition has been explained…"_ The snake man now spoke up as he leaned farther out of his makeshift throne. _"Will you be willing to cooperate?"_

Amanda paused thrashing finally when everything just below her neckline went ice numb, she could only sit there and think fast. She watched the snake-man closely.

_" Cooperate with what?"_ She spat as she sat there, wishing with everything she had, to be able to stand on her own feet instead of sitting like a ragdoll propped against the wall. She looked helpless.

_"I simply would like for you to answer a few questions"_ Amanda frowned, not liking were this conversation was going.

_"You where one of doctor Yamanashi's patients, no?"_ Orochimaru mused as he struggled to get out of the stone chair. He grunted in pain as he slowly stood with his decaying body.

_"According to him you possess no chakra yet you are alive isn't that right child?"_ He pressed as he slowly stalked forward. The girl stayed quiet.

_"I only simply wish to know more, child. For instance, where exactly did you come from?"_

Amanda tensed as the snake lord drew closer.

_"Ah, what was it?"_ He mused as he tapped a finger to his chin in pretend thought.

_"Oh yes, **'A country you have never heard of or will ever hear of', 'A wandering nomad from far off?', 'No ties to any villages in all the shinobi nations'**?_ Amanda winced as she heard her own lies being thrown back at her. Red, calculating, eyes watched from afar. The snake came closer.

_"You could not imagine my interest when my spy relayed your pitiful speech to me. Could you blame me child for my curiosity being peaked by those odd words?"_ He was only a few feet away now. Amanda clenched her teeth. She was trapped, and she knew it.

_"Tell me, are there more like you, chakra-less people? Maybe a family…"_ The snake sanin smirked haughtily when the girl's eyes flashed with fear. Amanda turned away, avoiding his gaze.

_"Perhaps, if you would like, we could bring them here-",_ before he could say another word, the child spat in his face.

A pregnant pause insured as everyone in the silent room froze in shock. Amanda scowled uneasily as he her heart suddenly threatened to leap out of her chest in fear. Kabuto stood rooted to his spot in shock. Sasuke did nothing more but continue to stare. Orochimaru blinked once in shock and disgust, clearly not registering what had just transpired. Without warning a large snake shot from the snake sanin's mouth and wrapped around the girl's neck. Amanda gasped in surprise as the serpent coiled itself tighter around warm flesh. Amanda shivered as the cool scales brushed roughly against her skin and the long, grey constrictor hissed menacingly in her ear. Don't ask me how he managed to morph his tongue into a reptile or being able to speak with it outstretched, the matter is till up for debate.

_"My, my, such terrible manners, and here I thought you would have more tact"_ Orochimaru chuckled mirthlessly as he watched the child struggle.

_"And after I provided you with such warm hospitality too, such a shame…"_ Amanda began to choke as she was lifted off the ground by the hissing tongue snake. Her breathing became harsh and swallow as she began feeling light headed. Tilting her head back slight from the overwhelming amount of dizziness she met the gaze of red eyes. She glared viciously at the monotone Uchiha, her eyes seeming to blame him for her current predicament. He simply glared back, his eyes expressing nothing but indifferent annoyance towards her silent accusation. Suddenly a faint barely noticeable crackling noise sounded out above the girl's choking gasps, and to Amanda's horror, dark blood began to bubble up in her throat and seep through her lips. Kabuto looked up faintly amused as he noticed the girl's panicked eyes.

_"Don't be so alarmed girl that would just be your organs shutting down now."_ He stated calmly, as if talking about something trivial, like the weather. Amanda choked in alarm, and without warning the sliver snake suddenly vanished as Orochimaru withdrew his tongue. Leaving Amanda with one option left, falling face first into the dirt. She groaned lightly after catching her breathe, but was brought back to the present as another wave of nausea hit her and she spat out blood once again.

**'Oh for the love of god, how much longer till I'm dead yet!?'** Amanda growled to herself as laid paralyzed on the floor, watching the small puddle of her blood grow steadily larger under her head.

_"Sasuke, go to the dojo and wait for me there, I will teach you that new jutsu shortly"_ Orochimaru spoke as he stepped away from his bleeding captive.  
_"Hn"_ Sasuke answered.

He narrowed his eyes slightly as he glared over to the girl once more. Feeling said unmistakably famous glare, Amanda willed her neck muscles to comply as she turned to stare back at him. Sasuke tensed his jaw in well hidden surprise when the girl gave him a pitying look of disappointment. The stoic Uchiha stared at her for another brief second before glancing up and narrowing his glare slightly more at something. Amanda felt the coldness of a shadow over her and in looking up she noticed, not the snake creep, but his equally as creepy silver haired medical ninja hovering over her. He watched carefully the girl as she glared at Sasuke, before he leaned over and with a quick flick of his wrist, snapped her head loudly to the side.

_"I'm surrounded by assholes…"_ Amanda mumbled, just loud enough for everyone to hear before everything went dark for her and she fell over limp in Kabuto's hold. Sasuke glanced down at the girl again, before directing his stare at his teacher.

_"I had wished to extract information from her about Itachi Uchiha"_ Said younger brother of the infamous murder stated flatly with annoyance brewing deeply in his black eyes.

_"And you will Sasuke"_ Orochimaru hissed complacently as he sat back in his stone chair. _"Once I am done with her you will have all the time you need to interrogate her about your brother's whereabouts."_

Sasuke 'Hn'ed once again in response, before throwing the unconscious girl one more withering glare and then disappearing.

Once the Uchiha prodigy had left Orochimaru directed his attention towards his right hand man.

_"Kabuto take her down to the labs, I want you to perform the procedure we discussed earlier"_ Kabuto raised an eyebrow in bemused surprise.

_"So soon? I would have thought you would have waited a bit longer"_ Orochimaru hissed tensely.

_"Normally I would but-"_He hissed painfully as the bandages around his arms began to bleed again. Kabuto took a step forward.  
_"Master Orochimaru!"_ Upon seeing that his master's wounds had opened up once more, Kabuto called out carefully.

_"Would you like for me to heal them?"_

_"No! Hurry up and perform the procedure on that damn girl"_ He grunted again as his body reminded him of how quickly he was deteriorating. After a tense moment the snake sanin collected himself as his loyal henchman watched warily.

"_We don't have much time Kabuto. Between this decrepit body, our dear Sasuke impatience, and those two Akatuski fools that are searching for this girl we don't have much time at all."_ Yellow ochre irises flashed as Orochimaru gripped the armrests of his throne and slowly rose.

_"Hurry and begin the surgery, I will meet you in the lab shortly"_ Kabuto nodded as he picked up the unconscious girl. _"As you wish Lord Orochimaru"_ He bowed slightly before vanishing himself, taking Amanda along with him.


	18. Chapter 18

Hello, my lovely readers. I hope you all have been doing good. I apologize for the later than late update, it seems I am at a cross roads with this story. But enough of my rambling, please enjoy this longer than normal chapter. :)

* * *

Chapter 17:

'**Why.'**

…Was the only thought that ran through my mind as the stench of antiseptic coiled in the air and burned my lungs. It tasted like acid. A foul, sour, taste lingered on my dry tongue.

'**Why?'**

The sound of rushing water, that swirled and danced with streaks of crimson, echoed in my ears as it poured down the sterile metallic drain. I could hear the tinkering of delicate, metallic, tools as they continued to carve whimsically into heavy pieces of solid, unyielding, flesh and bone.

'**Why?!'**

Absolute agony coursed though my veins as they twisted and tangled and I could feel the excruciating feeling of my bones breaking and mending simultaneously.

I felt my blood flowing and shifting forwards and backwards, clashing against each other like aggressive red tidal waves against a rocky shore. My muscles were stretching a far as they possibly could before the tension finally became too much and they begin easily ripping themselves apart, like shredding soggy pieces of grey and red paper.

'**WHY! PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!'**

But it never did.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha was bored.

The sole sound of his katana slicing effortlessly through steel projectiles and batting away various shrunken was starting grant on his nerves.

It was much too quiet.

The cry of a thousand chirping birds pierced through the thick atmosphere of the shadow-shrouded dojo, illuminating every single crook and crevice that hid an enemy in the sickening blue light. With a thunderous crack the lighting danced around the room, coiling around and attacking his prey like a wicked serpent of light.

As the smoke cleared, Sasuke stood posed with his katana outstretched above his head, as if preparing to strike downwards. He swiftly sliced the humming air around him that crackled with electricity left over from his chidori, before finally sheathing his sword and straightening up as he turned away to walk away.

He frowned as he left the dojo.

Being patient wasn't a strong suit he cared to indulge in.

Sasuke mentally scowled as he went in search of Orochimaru. Where was that snake when he needed him?

He had disappeared, along side Kabuto, since their interrogation with the girl since early this morning.

Sasuke took a quick peek from the corner of his eye as he passed a sloped, one way, window that served as both an entrance and a vantage point in cause of an outside assault on the base. Instead of the bright cerulean blue sky he was greeted with inky blackness and countless twinkling little dots scattered across the colorless void.

It was already night.

'**That damn snake, he stood me up'**

His frown deepened as he continued his pace. He was going to get that old snake for making him wait around all day.

The youngest Uchiha let his mind wander as he thought about that girl that he and Kabuto had gone on a wild goose chase to find. It was ironic that they finally found her alone and abandoned in the forest. He briefly wondered about the conversation he had overheard when he interrupted the beating the other sound chunin had given the defenseless girl. Something about her causing the death of their teammates.

Sasuke nearly snorted.

As if that girl could even lift a puny finger against any of them.

She wasn't a ninja, and was weaker than an average civilian. It was almost pathetic.

If he remembered correctly, she was fragile, and hadn't been kept in good health the last time he had seen her, regardless of the lethal injection she had been given.

She was incredibly pathetic, and her weakness was amplified by her lack of chakra, despite how impossible that seemed.

Why Orochimaru had taken an interest in her was beyond him.

Sasuke narrowed his coal-black eyes.

However, _his_ interest in her was justified.

She knew his brother, and likely knew where he was.

He knew that if he invaded her mind with his Sharingan that she would fall groveling before him, begging him to make it stop. He smirked.

It was decided.

He would ignore his master for now and find out where he kept his new pet project. He was finally going to get some answers and be one step closer to finding Itachi and finally avenging their, no, his clan once and for all.

An ominous breeze blew the solitary torch he had found as he opened the heavy metal door that held a winding staircase that led even deeper underground to the cells below. Shadows danced across his pale face as Sasuke stepped into the dungeon and let the iron door uncaringly slam loudly behind him.

It was time for his integration.

* * *

The loud sounds of groans, moans, and occasional shrieks of madness, filled the air as the glowing celestial orb rose higher in the night sky. Further back, in the shadowed corners of the dungeon like space, distorted whispers and giggles began to flitter across the desolate halls as the sound of a metal grating on metal echoed in the silence.

Slowly one of the crumpled figures lying on the cold stone floor of one of the many cells began to shift. It moved only slightly, the rising and falling of its chest becoming more clear as time crawled by. Slowly, very slowly, the small figure opened their eyes.

Amanda blinked slowly as she woke up, her entire being numb to the core.

'**What…' **

The girl tried looking around, but her limp muscles refused to cooperate, no matter how hard or long she tried. Her eyes slipped closed in defeat and her head slumped further onto the deliciously cool dirt sighed softly. At least the mind-numbing pain was finally gone.

'**Maybe they got bored with torturing me, considering all I did was scream.'**

Despite the numbness that racked my entire body, I could still taste the bitter salt leftover in the back of my throat from all the tears that had practically flooded my mouth.

I sighed again as I started blankly at the back of my eyelids.

'**What the hell did I do to deserve this?' **

Suddenly, a low, rushing, wind interrupted the silence and another cold breeze brushed past me, soothing my feverish skin. It nearly felt as if the cool wind were caressing my aching forehead. It felt so good.

My eyelids fluttered open briefly.

And my whole body froze.

Crimson eyes unexpectedly met a crimson face.

I tried to open my mouth to scream but found an icy hand crushing my throat instead. A half startled, half strangled sound escape my lips as the strong grip around my neck threatened to pulverize my throbbing windpipe. All my muscles had gone limp and I couldn't even muster up the strength to claw feebly at his hands. I could only choke and gasp like a dying fish as my heart thundered on, threatening to rip itself free of my chest at any second.

The glowing red eyes seemed to pierce through to the deepest recesses of my mind, analyzing me intently for something. I could only stare helplessly at the burning Kekkei Genkai hovering above my face in the gloom, like the eyes of a calculating but famished demon.

The staring contest went on for seemed like hours, or perhaps minutes, until the shadowed figure above me gave an aggravated noise of frustration, before the strong grip around my neck moved towards the back of my head, burrowing in the thick clumps of sweat matted and dirt caked hair. I gasped loudly and began greedily gulping down the sweet air that rushed freely through my lungs once more; completely ignoring the stinging sensation at the base of my skull.

_"What are you?"_ A cold yet distinctly younger voice asked as the pressure in my hair increased.

I blinked stupidly at the stoic face I knew was watching me from within the impenetrable darkness.

_"S-Shouldn't I-I be asking you that?"_ I rasped quietly, my voice hoarse and broken from all the screaming I had done earlier.

'**What was with everyone asking me that question all the sudden? Do I really come across as something **_**that**_** abnormal? For goodness sakes, I'm just a girl-'**

I winced as something was jabbed against my chest and began to burn heatedly against the center of my breast. I forced my head to look down, only to find a sharp sword pointed a little to close to my already fragile chest.

So close that in fact, when I had moved I had accidentally kinked myself on the stupid katana.

I winced again as a small amount of blood stained my bandages.

Damn it, that stung!

'**Correction, I'm just a girl that keeps getting her **_**ass**_** handed to her, by nearly everyone she meets. How fun…' **I mused bitterly as I my fingers curled, picking up clumps of dirt into my hands in the process.

Suddenly goose bumps rose over my damp skin as the cold hand in my hair slid further down to base of my neck, grabbing it and tilting my head further back, exposing my neck. I felt the cool metal of the sharp Japanese styled sword rest against the curve of my exposed throat, biting into the soft flesh slightly if I so much as twitched.

Cold breath tickled my ear as my attacker came closer.

_"I won't ask you again"_ Abruptly I came face to face with crimson eyes once more. They continued study me relentlessly.

I suddenly realized the pressure on my throat was steadily increasing, and another shallow cut had been added to the vast collection over my body. I knew I didn't have long before duck-butt hair finally decided to quit toying with me and slit my throat.

I caught myself just in time from swallowing against the steel imbedded in my skin as I quickly worked up the courage to muster up the most intelligent reply I could muster.

_"What do you want me to say? That I'm human? You ninja need to work on your conversation skills…"_ I spat, glancing off to the side, slightly offended that everyone seemed to think I was an alien or something.

Suddenly the blade disappeared and the hand behind my head switched to yanking me up by the scurf of my clothes until I was eye level once again with the irritated Uchiha.

_"You are as stupid as you are weak…"_

The cool, collected, voice I had finally now recognized as Sasuke Uchiha, stated impassively as I still felt his burning red-eyes pierce straight though to my soul. I shrunk back from the now distinguishable figure in the gloom while bearing my teeth in anger as a growl formed its way in the back of my throat. I had already opened my mouth to shot an incredibly nasty retort back in his face but the next thing he said stopped me in my tracks.

_"… And yet you are somehow immune to the Sharingan. Tell me girl, is that the reason my brother has an interest in you?"_ He glared coldly at her.

Unexpectedly a warm feeling began to course through my veins as my previously numb hands curled into fists.

_"Girl? How can you call me that, I'm practically your age!"_ I snapped the best I could with my hoarse voice in disbelief. Again he grabbed my throat in warning. I sputtered.

_"W-what do you w-want!?"_ I choked as the pressure around my neck quickly evaporated.

_"You are associated with the Akatsuki. So tell me, where is the man known as Itachi Uchiha"_ Sasuke commanded as he released the gasping girl. He let her drop to the floor and watched impassively as she held her throat and coughed violently.

_"Answer me"_ He warned as his patience began to slip.

_"Why do you want to find your brother so much?"_ The girl mumbled as she wearily sank back down to the floor.

Amanda mentally snorted.

Of course she knew why he was looking for him so relentlessly. It was the reason he was here with Orochimaru after all.

She just had to keep up the ruse.

The dark cell was left in a tense silence.

Amanda blinked.

Wondering why he had suddenly clamped up instead of scowling at her and remarking that it was none of her business.

Amanda gulped, she had a bad feeling about this.

The silence stretched on for what could have only been minutes, but still felt like hours to the immobilized teen cowering at the foot of one of her least favorite fictional characters.

Abruptly Amanda found herself hoisted through he air and felt her back have a grand old meeting with the wall. She cowered into herself as the pain took its course, running through her body.

_"I never said he was my brother…"_ The previously stoic boy before her glared suspiciously.

I hissed as the rock face behind me continued to dig into my back the further he pushed me into the wall.

_"Can't-(huff)- you be-(huff)-a little more-(huff)-gentler?"_ I panted as I coiled further into myself in pain.

"My body isn't exactly up to pair right now-" I finished with a groan as I felt the stitches adorning my back begin to tear.

Kakazu would not be happy.

…and he will probably blame me too.

I frowned sourly.

'**Damn it.'**

My attention was finally brought back to the realm of reality as the hold on my clothes loosened and the pressure on my back, mercifully, subsided.

'**Wow, did he just listen to me? Maybe he's not **_**that**_**-'**

_"How do you know about Itachi Uchiha"_

'**Never mind'**

_"It's common knowledge in Konoha"_ I muttered hesitantly.

_"You aren't from that village"_ He cut through my lie like butter.

_"Oh, how would you know?"_ I challenged stubbornly, tilting my head back to glare at him.

_"You have no affiliations there, you said it yourself"_ I nearly face-palmed myself in realization.

_"But I have been there before!"_ I protested heatedly, going on the only lie that had the faintest chance of justifying my actions**. **

'**In my dreams, that is…'**

_"And how long ago was that?"_ He watched impassively as the girl in his hold struggled to come up with an estimate.

_"…a while."_ She stated plainly.

He simply glared.

_"I won't ask you again, how did you know he was my brother?"_

_"…You both the same freaky red eyes-I mean the same bloodline limit."_ I spoke up as I pointed despairingly at the red orbs that continued to glare coldly at me and succeed in scaring the crap out of me.

_"Plus you both look a lot a like."_

'**Lie. His hair is prettier than your, and it doesn't look like a goose's ass'**

_"It only natural that I assumed that you two are related. Brothers was the first thing that just came to mind I guess"_ I finished with an innocent shrug of my shoulders.

'**Yes! Go mouth, Go. Get me the hell out of this mess!' **

My mood was immediately dampened once I saw the cold look of suspicion still firmly lodged in those incredibly scary irises.

_"Lair"_ He growled out, and just like that the my back was back against the wall, crushing against the rocks with enough force to convince me that my spine was about to snap in two at any second.

I nearly screamed and began choking instead on my spit as my stitches finally did give way before snapping and the rocks began digging into the bleeding raw flesh of my back.

_'STOP, STOP, STOP-'_ I yelled aloud as I struggled in vain to get away from the man's iron strong grip, pinning me to the rock face.

The pain was nearly too much. I couldn't even breathe. I couldn't-

Suddenly I was face to face with the ground. I coughed violently on the dirt and gravel that infiltrated my mouth. Another sudden kick had me rolling onto my side as I struggle to breathe and spit out the disgusting taste in mouth at the same time.

I took a peek from the corner of my tear filled eye at the crossed arm figure watching me. I would have rolled my eyes if I weren't so busy trying to breathe.

Jerk.

Again Sasuke watched impassively as the girl struggled around in the dirt, resisting the urge to sigh. The girl evaded his questions and being even the slightest bit physical with her only served to bring her closer to passing out.

Sasuke frowned.

This whole interrogation was being to annoy him.

_"Get up"_ He commanded as the girl continued to pant in the dirt before him.

_"Get the hell away from me…"_ Amanda rasped weakly as she curled further into her side, facing the opposite direction from her tormentor.

'**Good grief, why couldn't they just leave me alone for one day!?'** I though desperately as I struggled to real in the tears that began spilling down my face.

I couldn't take much more of this.

This kicked dog feeling.

I just wanted to go home or curl up and die somewhere away from these psychopaths.

Was that really too much to ask?

Really?

'**Life, you suck…'**

I nearly cried aloud when something grabbed my arm.

With what little strength I had left I ripped my arm away from the surprisingly loose grip.

_"Leave me alone. I don't know where he is. And even if I did I wouldn't tell you. You wouldn't know what to do if you finally find him anyway-"_

_"I would kill him"_ Sasuke hissed, so coldly that for a moment I thought he was Orochimaru in disguise. The unadulterated venom in his voice chilled me to the very marrow of my bones and froze my tears.

The tension in the room lasted only a few seconds longer before the girl began to laugh.

Sasuke's previous feeling of blood lust were put on hold as his anger evaporated into shock, puzzlement, and a hint of apprehension at the girl's laughter.

_"Ah ha ha! I can't believe it!"_

Amanda chortled painfully as she clutched her aching chest as bitter mirth consumed her. She couldn't stop it.

The sour, sharp, laughter rose up in her like bile and racked her body. Her wide, sharp, fiery, eyes locked on to his as she whipped around to glare at the boy, yes_ boy_, in front of her.

_"You haven't changed! You're just the same aren't you?!"_ She snapped, almost angrily at the very stone faced teenager across from her. Her hazel eyes nearly glowed with an unearthly flame.

Sasuke had almost taken a step back at the unleashed fury directed at him, before he cursed and caught himself from showing such a weak display.

No matter how truly disarming this girl was.

As Sasuke struggled to rein in his thoughts, the terrifyingly murderous look of hellfire that the girl had been giving him ceased as her face went blank, before consorting in pain.

She abruptly fell to the ground and curled in on herself as her body began shaking.

Again the Uchiha did nothing but watch.

Finally, it stopped.

Sasuke stood as still as a statue as he stared at the limp body at his feet. After a silent moment he moved to take a step forward but a faint, almost inaudible, voice stopped him.

_"You m-may deserve to k-know, but-"_ I paused to cough harshly into my arm. Opening my eyes again I could see the flecks of blood adorning my arms like freckles. I painfully turned my head to glance up at the shadow above me.

_"...you can't handle the truth"_

I finished with a sniff, my voice laced with the bitterness that I couldn't help but let creep back into my tone.

My world began to turn dark as colors started to recede from my sight and I closed my eyes. Willing myself to faint.

My muscles went limp and my head collapsed into the hard packed earth beneath me.

As I felt conscious struggle to claim me, I let my mind drift as I reflected on my rash and bold outburst.

…

Wow, I didn't know I could curse like that.

Guess I got in from being around Hidan too much.

Dumb jerk.

...Kakazu too.

Where are they?

'**Whatever, hanging around the zombie duo couldn't have been good for my health.'**

'**Or safety…'**

'**Or mentality…'**

'**My morals are probably shot too. Oh hell, just in general!'**

I made a face.

Again that wasn't my fault.

'**Still…it would be nice if they would hurry up and save me'**

_"…dumb…bastards…where are you?"_ The girl slurred as her head lolled to the side. Even the slightest movement burned, literary.

Suddenly, I heard shuffling beside me, and before I could react I felt strong arms quickly slip under my legs and my back, effortlessly hoisting my tense form into the air.

Somehow I managed to crack an eye open and noticed soft, white, fabric tickling my cheek. If it were possible I tensed even more.

_"…why are you carrying me duck-boy?"_ Sasuke nearly paused in mid-step but contained himself just in time and continued up the stone staircase.

_"What did you call me?"_ He growled, his annoyance spiking with every added comment that this girl could spit out.

He heard a quite chuckle.

_"…where are we going?"_ The girl questioned, a little more quietly than last time. Sasuke scowled, as he amazingly letting the terrible nickname slide.

_"You're wounds have broken open, and since you are too incompetent to walk, I am taking you to be treated."_ He spoke crisply as he continued closer to the medic room.

_"…treated?"_ She wondered aloud.

Abruptly the girl snapped her mouth shut with a click as her teeth rattled against each other. Immediately she began struggling as hard as she could against her captor.

It did little next to nothing, but aroused Sasuke's curiosity nonetheless.

_"What are you complaining about. Do you want me to drop you back in that cell so you can bleed to death?"_ His annoyance was beginning to overlap his normally monotonous tone.

_"Yes, if it means staying away from **him**!"_

_"You should be more hospitable, my teacher is keeping you alive after all"_

He stated as he glared down at her. He found his glare directed directly right back at him, with an added dose of poison.

_"It's not him I'm worried about, its-"_

_"Ah back already are you? That wasn't very long at all…"_ A slightly scolding voice echoed down the cavern wall.

Immediately the youngest Uchiha felt the girl he carried stiffen and twitch uncontrollably as the owner of the voice stepped out from the shadows before him. Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes at the man's theatrical entrance.

As Kabuto emerged into the pool of torchlight a dark hiss came from Amanda's clenched teeth as she glared savagely. Sasuke raised his eyebrow as he glanced down briefly at her, already coming to the obvious conclusion.

Kabuto merely smirked.

_"Honestly, you would think you would be through with the entire revival process. Unless…tell me girl, are you a masochist?"_ He questioned, with genially curiosity in his tone as he smiled a disturbingly bright smile.

**"_Go to hell!"_ **Amanda hissed dangerously from her place against the observing Uchiha.

_"Again, what manners"_ Kabuto mused dryly as he frowned at the glaring hostility.

_"Kabuto"_ Sasuke snapped. "_Enough_"

The sliver haired medic Nin glanced, slightly peeved, at the lighting user before shrugging and continuing on with his casual disposition.

_"Fine, come in then"_ He shrugged as he disappeared behind a door, that Amanda was entirely sure, had not been there in the last five minutes.

Amanda felt her stomach twist violently upon seeing the operating table as they walked in.

Suddenly she felt cold metal seep into her tights as she was roughly deposited on another metal table she had not noticed before.

Immediately the girl tried with all of her might to jump off and sprint away as fast as she could, but a hands stopped her advance and slammed her painfully back onto the table. Suddenly thick, chain-like restraints were wound around her ankles and elbows with blinding speed and the girl cursed angrily.

_"There that should hold her for now"_ Kabuto sighed satisfied with his work, as Sasuke stood impassively in the corner.

_"Do you really need those to hold her down?"_ He questioned indifferently, gesturing to the chains. Kabuto gave a wiry grin.

_"You would be surprised"_ Abruptly the medic ninja stood and gestured sharply towards the door.

_"Thank you for your help. You may go now Sasuke"_

"_Hn_" He sneered, annoyed with the abrupt dismal.

At these words the girl stilled and her eyes widen as she watched helplessly as Sasuke straightened before wandering away towards the door.

_"W-wait"_ She choked out after him.

Her small plea fell on deaf ears as he continued to the door and Kabuto suddenly loomed over her.

_"So, you destroyed my hard work already? What a pity. I guess we'll just have to fix that-"_

_"It isn't your hard work, it was Kakuzu's, and I said to wait damn you!"_ She screamed angrily at the retreating figure's back.

Sasuke paused just passed the threshold of the door frame. For a brief second Amanda hoped he would turn around and listen but that hope was quickly dashed as he continued out into the hallway. Before she could utter another syllable she found her throat being constricted.

Amanda choked as Kabuto gripped her neck tightly with one hand and nearly ripped her off the table.

_"What do you mean by that?"_ The pale haired youth demanded as he brought his searching face inches from her own.

The girl could only choke in response.

Abruptly he dropped her face first onto the table, twisting the restraints painfully, and yanked her shirt up, nearly ripping it in the process as he inspected the large, broken, stitches adorning her back.

_"How is this possible? You don't have any chakra, so why are these stitches infused with such a high amount. How did I not see this!?"_ He snapped aloud in his frustration.

I furrowed my brow in confusion.

_"B-But, I don't!"_ I yelped, terrified he would hurt me again, as I found my arms yanked higher over my head.

_"Then…"_ He frowned as well before scowling. _"Now I see, this isn't your charka at all. It belongs to someone else. Which means…"_

I heard him growl in anger, and I blinked as it dawned on me as well. After that I couldn't help but crack a smile.

' **Go Kakazu, a built-in tracking device in his threading! He probably homes in on his own charka wherever the signal is coming from. That's probably why he re-stitched my back too! Even though it hurt like hell…'**

I nearly snickered as my smile turned into a smirk.

'**What do you know, the old geezer is smarter than I gave him credit-"**

Before I could finish that thought I felt a terrible pain dance along my back.

This time I did scream.

I screamed bloody murder as the stitches were cut and then brutally ripped out. It was much more brutal than before.

I knew whom those cold hands belonged too.

I screamed, and screamed, and screamed till I just couldn't anymore and my mind along with my body gave out on me.

* * *

A few sound ninja, no more than five, paused curiously in they're tasks as loud screams echoed down the corridors. It continued for an unnerving length of time before abruptly stopping. They all shrugged as they continued on with their duties in debriefing themselves before re-entering the main areas of the hideout. They were already used to this sort of thing.

One shadowed figure however did not.

The lone sound Nin was no different from the rest except for that he did absolutely nothing but lean against the wall with a fierce scowl on his face. Though he appeared no different from the rest his presence was exceedingly noticeable from the almost tangible amount of hostility around him. His black mood was so terrifying that it even persuaded the higher ranked ninja to leave the nameless grunt be as he stewed over whatever was troubling him.

Finally, someone was stupid enough to confront him.

The equally nameless grunt happened to be the appointed leader of the team for this particular mission, and he relished his place with vigor.

_"What the hell is wrong with you man? What are you waiting for, the wall to crumble? Hurry up and finish! Hey are you even listening?"_

The masked ninja continued to ignore him.

The nameless sound ninja remained silent and kept their face hidden behind the cloth mask he refused to take off, unlike the rest of his exhausted teammates. The team captain scowled as his face turned red with rage at being so openly ignored by his subordinate.

_"Answer me you already fago-"_

The man's words died on his lips and he emitted an odd croaking sound as his head suddenly disconnected from his body and rolled away like dust in the wind. The copious amounts of blood finally got everyone's attention as they rushed to attack the now visible intruder in their ranks.

Before anyone could bat an eyelash, they found a barge of black threads embedded into their skulls.

They all fell to the ground as one, as the black, needlepoint, threads slowly retracted, sticky with brain matter, and slithered back towards their master.

The nameless grunt sneered from behind the mask as he finally released his transformation jutsu.

Kakuzu sighed in annoyance as he leaned back against the wall he had previously been resting against and closed his eyes in annoyance.

_"You did it again! Why the hell do you kill all of my potential sacrifices!"_ A familiar voice yelled angrily in his direction, and with a warily sigh the ex-waterfall Nin straightened up and glanced annoyed at his partner.

_"Will you shut up. Your too loud, as usual."_

_"Take that back you old heathen"_ Hidan snapped, his voice progressively lower than usual as he stepped foot inside the snake hole.

_"Of course, the snake would find a nice hole for it to die in. How pathetic…"_

He trailed off with a sneer as he scrapped his triple bladed scythe against the stone walls, leaving large gashes in the otherwise solid stone.

_"Enough. We're here to get the girl and get out. Nothing more, so control yourself."_ Kakauzu narrowed his eyes at his partner, forbearing his murderous tendencies for the time being.

Hidan growled an oath under his breath but otherwise nodded his head and began leading the way deeper into the caves, placing a strong enough genjustu to cover his appearance and strength from unsuspecting gazes. Kakauzu followed him and rekindled his original disguise as well.

The torch lights beside them flickered ominously as they navigated their way through the winding passageways, easily fooling the few and far apart rookie sound ninjas they would come across. Though Kakazu did kept an eye trained on his hot-blooded partner at all times, just in case he decided to act up.

Finally they came to a stop in the middle of an abandoned hallway; but not before an ear-splitting screech abruptly filled the quiet air and then faded away just as eerily.

Hidan clenched his jaw.

_"Now?"_

_"Now"_ Kakazu confirmed. The two ninja burst into movement.

Hidan suddenly begun to sprint through various passageways and began throwing random kunai and shuriken, lodged with paper bombs, into the cave walls. The sound of the explosions was enough to wake the dead as a multitude of hallways crumbled and collapsed. Alarms were raised as a multitude of sound ninja began the hunt for the inturder that was terrorizing their base.

Meanwhile Kakuzu ran in the opposite direction, down the dimly lit hall, in search of his query. As he continued he sense an interference with his specialized chakra coiling.

Kakuzu could sense the minute traces of his own energy signature disappearing, one by one. Someone must have caught on to his technique, and now they were dismantling his handy work to get rid of his signature. He narrowed his eyes.

_"Great… that brat's going to be sorry if I have to re-stich her back"_ the Akatsuki member sneered, as he rounded another corner. He barely stopped when he came face to face with a group of advancing sound chunin. The ex-waterfall ninja outstretched his arms and the snake-like threads immediately eliminated the clueless ninja with ease, as they were roughly thrown into the wall beside with bone crushing force.

Stopping in the center of yet another abandoned hallway Kakazu finally came upon the source of the very faint signature. He stared at the blatantly concealed door before him for a moment; and odd feeling in his gut warning him that something was amiss. Quickly performing a genjutsu-releasing hand sign and a quick sweep of his surroundings, Kakuzu noted with a satisfactory nod that nothing had changed and no one but him and the signature were in close proximity. With a swift punch, his carbon-solidified fist easily blew the door off its hinges and sent the heavy wooden object splintering into a thousand pieces across the room. He strolled quickly into the shadowed room.

There, on a shinning operating table laid a pile of what appeared to be thick, black, threads and bits of flesh and hair wound around the coils. Kakuzu quickly picked up the wet substance, and noticed with exasperation that it left thick, red, smears across his hand as he let the heavy material slip back onto the metal table with a sickening smacking sound.

He growled in frustration.

_"Shit."_

* * *

If Amanda had been given a choice between her current situation and being cast into a deep, dark, fiery, pit for all eternity…she would rather choose the pit.

No, definitely the pit.

The deafening noise of shouting, screaming, and explosions tore at her ears like a pair of hungry dogs, and the ground beneath her shook with tremendous force.

Her body shivered and trembled violently as every yell and every explosion were magnified by a hundred as they filtered through her hyperactive senses.

While her hearing was as sharp as crystal and every inch of her skin felt as if it wound by an electric wire, her sight was another matter.

Amanda fearfully realized that her vision was rapidly fading as the world withered and contorted in blobs of fading colors, become bleached, not darkened.

Amanda knew this reaction well. This was the part where she could feel herself dangerous close to passing out again, but this time for a whole different reason.

She was dying again, she could feel it.

Her heart thundered on, drowning out everything as it increased its quickening pace. Breathing was becoming a chore now as she was jostled down the shaking halls of what had been another prison to her for a short while.

Despite all the pain and gore surround them as they fled, the girl wasn't sure what she hated the most, the fact that she was suffering another agonizing death, or that she was thrown over the shoulder of the exact man who was the cause of her current pain.

Suddenly the ground before them exploded in a shower of heavy debris and stone. A thick cloud of dust was quickly kicked up and clouded the entire passage.

Kabuto flipped back as skillfully, well, as he could manage with the limp burden hanging from his shoulders.

He cursed as he saw the tall figure blocking his way through the thinning dust cloud.

Red colored metal gleamed wickedly in the moonlight that fell from a few cracks in the damaged ceilings. The sound of heavy fabric rustling echoed in suddenly silent air as the cloaked mercenary stepped closer.

The shadowed figure suddenly let a mirthful snicker.

_"Hmp, guess I missed one"_

Amanda snapped her head. Staring into the darkness she knew she could not see.

'**Please God, don't tell me I'm hallucinating'** She pleaded to herself as she tried in vain to see the shadowed figure behind her.

_"It appears you did…Akatsuki"_ Kabuto spoke warily as he observed the S-ranked missing Nin before him. The voice chuckled again, this time with a slight hint of maniac glee behind it.

_"Oh so you know me then? Let's fix that problem then. Die heathen!"_ Hidan laughed, already in a zealous mood from killing a copious amount of sound ninja, as he charged straight for the silver-haired medic.

He missed as Kabuto dodged the three-bladed scythe and it crashed into the wall, creating three identical gashes as chunks of sandstone flew everywhere. An impressive feat when one was carting around a near corpse on their shoulder.

Amanda let out a loud noise of discomfort at the jarring impact, but did not dare scream outright in fear of drawing too much attention to herself as the two ninja fought. She gritted her teeth until she was sure they would crack, as she was jostled along with Kabuto's fast and jerky movements. It was getting harder to breathe.

Tired, glazed, eyes tried in vain once more to find a hint at where the assailant was as an intense whiteness began to blur the world.

_"S-stop…"_ Amanda moaned as pain flared in her throat and tears finally began to prickle at her blank eyes.

After one more swing, Kabuto had gracefully flipped backwards once more behind Hidan. The girl hissed and clamped her teeth together in agony at the rough maneuver.

_"Stop H-Hi-Hidan. S-stop"_ She choked on her pleads.

Suddenly everything went deathly still as the two ninja finally averted their attention towards the small, gasping, lump that laid still sprawled out on the purple clad ninja's shoulder.

Hidan willed his jaw shut and blinked once as he tried to hide his surprise the best he could. The deranged masochist had honestly thought that Kakuzu had gone to find the damn brat and would be on his merry fucking way here already. He had briefly expected that the figure his sneaky little opponent was carrying was an injured comrade or something.

Apparently him and Kakuzu were both a little too slow.

It didn't help that she was dripping in more blood than he was, and looked like she were about to drop dead any minute.

Hidan cursed vividly under his breath.

Leader would find a way to kill him _permanently_ this time.

What Kabuto said next only serve to annoy the masochistic Akatsuki member further.

_"Still alive I see? Well don't worry about that, it won't last long"._

He smirked as his trademark horn-rimmed glasses flashed in the fading moonlight of the hallway.

Amanda made no notion of hearing the demented medic Nin, as she simply stared quietly at the space were she knew Hidan was, willing him to do something.

He simply glared at Kabuto.

…He hated playing the hero.

Sensing the amplified hostility Kabuto turned to glance at the inactive mercenary as well.

_"Well, then, Hidan is it? It's obvious that you are part of the Akatsuki. How about we make a deal"_

Hidan only scowled further. His knuckles turning white as he gripped his scythe with tremendous force.

What the hell was this fucker playing at?

Taking the equally silver-haired man's silence as an initiative, Kabuto continued.

_"We'll make a deal, you will tell me the reason the why Akatsuki are sheltering such a pathetic thing and in exchange you can have her corpse."_ He finished as he shuffled the girl off his shoulder and into his arms.

Hidan remained unusually silent as his scowl only deepened. Before the masochist could open his mouth to give his reply, a soft, whisper beat him to it.

_"for the same reason you are…**bastard**"_ Amanda spat with a hiss as she glared blankly in Kabuto's direction.

The girl then took in a deep gulp of air and gripped one of his forearms with a surprising amount of force. Kabuto snapped his head down in surprise as he felt an odd sensation run down his arm.

Suddenly, a blinding ripple of light ripped through the darkness as Kabuto's scream of pain could be heard echoing down the destroyed corridor.

Immediately Amanda felt herself being dropped and landed on the hard ground with a loud '**THUD'**.

Before she could groan in pain, a looming shadow had appeared over her. Without missing a beat Hidan grabbed the girl and hoisted her under his arm like a bloody sack of potatoes. He dashed past the still wailing man and into the darkened passages, yelling as he went.

_"Kakuzu, I fucking got her! Get your fucking ass over here, you money whore! We need to leave right fucking now!"_ The immortal masochist yelled, the slightly panicked edge to his voice betrayed his appearance as he sprinted back towards the exit.

Midway to his destination, and his tirade of cusses, Kakazu appeared beside him, similar to the stalking shadows behind them that gave chase.

As he strode in pace with Hidan, the ex-waterfall ninja noticed, with a small amount of relief, that his partner had indeed, though unexpectedly, found the girl. His relief was sort lived as the cracks in the ceiling grew wider the closer they got to the entrance, allowing more moonlight to shine through.

_"I though I told you **NOT** to kill her!"_ Kakazu snapped angrily once he finally noticed the sizeable bloodstains on the kid's clothes.

_"Why the hell do you always assume that it was me you asshole! I didn't do this!"_ Hidan yelled in frustration as he ran along side his exasperated partner.

_"It's always you"_ Kakauzu growled with a sigh of annoyance.

_"Oi! Take that back Kakazu!"_ The duo nearly made it to the exit before a figure once more blocked their path. Hidan snarled as they as they can to a stop, just meters from the exit.

_"What is it now?"_ He barked, switching his hold on the girl in exchange for his scythe. The figure drew their weapon in response. The silver steel gleamed as he held it out before him.

_"Akatsuki"_ Sasuke spoke neutrally as he glanced at the immortal duo before him. His glowing red orbs shone menacingly in the darkness as the moonlight behind him outlined his silhouette. Kakazu narrowed his eyes as something occurred to him.

_"Those eyes, those are the Sharingan…"_ Hidan raised an eyebrow as he glanced behind him. _"What…like that prick Itachi?"_

He failed to notice the newcomer's fists tighten.

_"A Sharingan user, then you must be another Uchiha"_ Kakazu deducted as he searched the boy's face.

"_Eh_?" Hidan blinked. _"Are you crazy you old fart, didn't Itachi kill off his whole damn clan or something?"_

_"Apparently he missed one"_ Kakazu mused as he took a step past Hidan, but not before roughly punching him. Hidan scowled as he ducked the punch before he smirked menacingly as he turned back to Sasuke.

_"Ah, that's too bad. Maybe we should fix his mistake then!"_ The zealot laughed as he moved to charge his new enemy.

_"No. We're here to get the girl and get out, like I said before"_ Kakazu drawled as he held his hand up.

_"You're not going anywhere"_ Sasuke snapped as he shifted his stance. There were three people before him that knew where Itachi was, and he wasn't going to let a chance like this pass him by.

_"Oh, the little brat thinks he can stop us, hey Kakazu"_ Hidan sneered and then laughed. The masked Akatsuki member said nothing as he watched his partner make a fool out of himself while he smirked amusedly behind his mask.

So the boy believed that he could take them, despite knowing who they were.

Interesting.

Suddenly Hidan stopped laughing as he frowned.

_"So much damn fucking arrogance for a heathen, just like the bastard Itachi. Jashin-Sama hates arrogance…"_ The silver-haired masochist spat as he brandished his weapon.

_"Sinners like you have nothing better to do than die!"_ Hidan laughed again as he rushed Sasuke and swung his scythe.

The weapon nearly caught the younger Uchiha but he dodged just in time as the weapon crashed into the ground, mere seconds away from where he had stood before.

_"Give me your blood heathen"_ Hidan laughed once more as he continued his assault while Sasuke easily deflected each blow with his katana.

Sparks flashed in the muted darkness as the sound of metal crashing against metal reverberated down the hall. Suddenly the air turned cold, and with a crack, a stream of lightning illuminated the room and engulfed Sasuke's katana.

_"Chidori Current"_ Sasuke smirked as he swung the blinding blade, connecting with the large scythe. Hidan swore loudly in pain as the electrified metal sent shock waves coasting through his entire body. He could feel his organs frying. With a jolt Hidan jumped back as quickly as he could, breaking the connection. He gasped as his body screamed in painful ecstasy.

If the dead man standing up after a few minutes at all surprised Sasuke he didn't show it. Sasuke's knew his chidori current had gone straight through the man and without a doubt should have killed him. Yet there he stood, laughing like a mental patient.

After Hidan had calmed down from his laughing fit and grinned wickedly.

_"Hehe that was good…"_, he trialed off as he licked the corner of his bloodied mouth. _"Now, lets share that pain together you motherfu-"_

_"Enough Hidan"_ Kakazu snapped as he interrupted his overzealous partner.

_"Stay the fuck out of this Kakazu!"_ Hidan yelled, a vein popping out from his neck in frustration._ "This bastard should have been dead a ages ago, I'm just finishing the job"_

_"Are you as stupid as you act or did you forget that you just nearly had the girl electrocuted?"_ The masked ninja growled as he held the limp girl up before him with a solitary fist.

Amanda dangled limply from his grasp, barley conscious as her half lidded eyes scanned the scene before her from the awkward angle her head had rolled limply to.

Muted hazel caught red and once Amanda was sure she he had seen her before she mouthed something faintly. Sasuke's eyes widen fas he tightened his grip on the handle of his sword and he watched the girl's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she finally succumbed to the darkness. The two bickering Akatsuki members took no notice.

_"Huh? She's still alive?"_

_"Not for long if you keep acting like a moron"_

_"Take that back you fucker. I already told you that this wasn't my fault!"_

_"Says the one who lost her twice already…"_

At this, Hidan wisely clamped his mouth shut, having had nothing to rebuke his partner's claim.

_"Besides, you've had your fun…"_ Kakazu mused as he stepped past his partner who was staring at him with undisguised hostility. The ex-waterfall ignored him as he locked eyes with the younger Uchiha. He raised a hand, as if in greeting, as lazily turned to glance behind him at his silver-haired partner.

_"…It's time to get going. After all time is money."_ And with that said, Kakazu unleashed his trap and in a matter of seconds the entire hallway was alive with black tentacle like threads.

Sasuke moved to act but it was already to late.

A heat beat later the exit had exploded in a shower of rock and gravel as the underground base caved in on itself and the maze of partial intact tunnels laid exposed to the frosty night air. Simultaneously a bolt of brilliantly blue lighting burst out and angrily lit up the surrounding forest. In the ensuring two blurs leapt out of the mad confusion and disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

...

After the dust had settled a lone figure was left standing atop of an enormous pile of rubble.

Sasuke Uchiha said nothing as he stood atop of the destroyed mess that had been his master's base. The sharp metal of his sword briefly reflected the sliver moonlight before the reflection winked out of existence as he sheathed his katana in one fluid motion. The raven-haired boy said nothing as he glared out into the darkness of the moonlit forest.

As the moon peeked over the night clouds two more shapes suddenly appeared atop of the rubble behind the brooding Uchiha.

_"Sasuke, I am glad to see you are alive…"_ Orochimaru smirked as his snake-like features appeared in the gloom.

_"Though I am curious, why you allowed the hostage to go so easily when you had yet to obtain any notable information on Itachi"_ The snake sanin hissed as he eyed his student's back suspiciously.

The figure beside the snake said nothing as they clutched their arm close to their chest. Kabuto watched the Uchiha reaction intently as he stood next to Orochimaru, his face remained disapproving while his eyes crinkled slightly with anger.

The medic ninja soundlessly gritted his teeth when the stoic teen said nothing in response to his master's question, but simply turned around and brushed past them with a haughty_ 'Hn'._

Sasuke said nothing as he strolled back into the leveled base, his mind too much at work as he replayed the last words the girl had mouthed to him.

**["Don't fight them Sasuke, they're not yours to fight…**

_**I…I'll see you later..."]**_

'What did she mean by that?' Sasuke scowled as he peered further into the darkness.

Why did he care, it didn't matter in the end. He would had let them go regardless of the girl' plead.

Something about those two Akatsuki members was completely unnatural; and as he loathed to admit it Sasuke felt that fighting those two wouldn't have been the wisest move.

The young man shook his head slightly to clear his head.

Again, it still hadn't mattered that the girl had gotten away from him before he could extract any truly useful information from her.

**'I will find her again soon enough' **the raven–haired protégé smirked coolly as he continued down the hallway path illuminated by the flickering moonlight before he was too swallowed by darkness.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully the road block in my mind will become clearer after I post this. Happy Holidays if I don't get back to you soon. Cheers. ;)


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